Pan Amsterdam – NYC Town
Identity, belonging, and self-deception collide in Pan Amsterdam’s reflective new single “NYC Town”.
The track emerged during what Leron Thomas (the man behind Pan Amsterdam) describes as “a turning point in my life”—that moment of realisation when he’d spent more years in New York than in his hometown of Houston. This geographical shift mirrors an internal one, prompting questions about the nature of personal evolution in a city that constantly reinvents itself.
Throughout “NYC Town,” Thomas explores the peculiar duality of New York existence: unrealised dreams sitting alongside unexpected new aspirations, the way intimate relationships dissolve into complete estrangement, and the city’s trick of refreshing your social circle just when you think you’ve seen it all. The song wrestles with a fundamental question many transplants eventually face: “Did I come to New York to escape from myself or to grow?” His conclusion—”probably a bit of both”—reveals the nuanced reality behind the seemingly binary choice.
What gives “NYC Town” its particular bite is Thomas’s wry observation of the collective self-delusion practised by New Yorkers. He notes the strange habit of residents constantly naming their city aloud, something he claims happens nowhere else: “You don’t hear people walking around saying ‘Paris’ in Paris. Or ‘Denver’ in Denver.” This verbal tic symbolises a more profound insecurity—the need to continuously affirm that living in an “overpriced melting pot” is worth it.
There’s a refreshing honesty in how Thomas frames New Yorkers (himself included) as “just suckers trying to convince ourselves that it’s a nice town.” The irony is palpable.
“NYC Town” is a preview of Pan Amsterdam’s forthcoming album, “Confines,” which will be released on May 23rd via Heavenly Recordings.
What makes Thomas’s perspective particularly valuable is his willingness to implicate himself in the critique. He’s not standing apart from New York’s absurdities but recognising his own participation in them—questioning if his personal changes represent genuine growth or merely a form of escapism.
