Listen to the glistening teenage nostalgia of Jimi Somewhere’s ‘1st Place’

Every weekday, DIY’s new music know-it-all Neu brings you one essential new release to get obsessed with. Today’s Neu Pick comes from Jimi Somewhere.

Norway’s Jimi Somewhere is releasing his debut EP ‘Ponyboy’ this spring, and its first cut ‘1st Place’ - today’s Neu Pick - is a glistening slice of teenage nostalgia.

“Life was better when I was seventeen,” the youngster sings with impassioned, pained vocals over a mix of atmospheric guitar licks and grand, spacious synths that give more than a few nods to Kevin Abstract’s ‘American Boyfriend’ LP. Packed with personality, it’s an exceedingly exciting introduction.

“Me and two of my best friends, one of which is my producer Milo Orchis, saved up some money after high school so we could get from Norway to LA and work on music there for a couple months, just to see what happens,” the singer - real name Benjamin Scahndy - says of the recording of ‘Ponyboy’. “Just to see what happens. During our stay we got so inspired by it, we made this whole EP.

“First Place was made by me and Milo together with another Norwegian producer we befriended during our stay called Bearson,” he continues. “Actually, during our first week in LA we met up with Bearson and made the song on that same day. It’s written and performed by myself, produced by Bearson and Milo Orchis. It’s a song about how, no matter what I’m going through in life, I’m gonna be okay as long as I got my friends beside me.”

Listen to ‘1st Place’, today’s Neu Pick, below.