Sam Nelson Harris is no stranger to Hollywood deadlines. “There are a lot more cooks in the kitchen,” he said of writing for Aquaman 2. “We had to make it a little more aquatic. Listen, you can’t go wrong with a water metaphor.”
He means it. The band’s new cut, “Deep End,” joins a filmography that already includes Transformers, Suicide Squad, Call of the Wild, and Bright. For a guy who grew up on comic books and CDs stuffed with Eurythmics and John Taylor soundtrack detours, it’s practically a calling. “I’ve always really wanted to write something for a superhero franchise,” he said. “And I got such a kick out of it.”
The trick, though, isn’t just hitting “inspiring badass swagger” briefs. It’s finding a real entry point. “For Aquaman, it’s a story of two brothers,” Harris explained. “I’ve been in a band with my brother for 15 years. That’s an authentic emotional in for me. My North Star is always—do I actually like the song? If I like it, it’s a win, whether it makes the movie or not.”
That attitude explains why the X Ambassadors catalogue is littered with soundtrack appearances that don’t sound phoned-in. Harris loves the work. “It gets me out of my own head,” he said. “Our albums are so personal—it’s me, me, me. This is in service of something else. That’s fun. And fun is rare.”
Fun is also behind their EG series—collaborations with artists like Breland and Medium Build that Harris says keep him sane. “Some of these artists are relatively obscure. We can give them a spotlight. And for me, it’s a chance to stop white-knuckling my own songs for a second.”
Ironically, the guy praising the relief of collaborative assignments also dropped his first solo record this year. “I wanted it to feel like you stumbled on a voice note,” he said. “Those are the best moments—when you finish something you love and play it back for yourself. That’s better than money, awards, or radio play. It’s the ‘oh my God I can still do this’ moment.”
He admits it came after a COVID-era identity crisis. “I’d been in a band for 15 years. I needed something purely for myself. And honestly, I needed to not be a leader for a second.” The result is an album that feels direct, raw, and—for once—entirely his.
And yet the lesson loops back to the band. “If you write a song you don’t really like and it’s a hit, that’s confusing,” Harris said. “If you do the same thing again and it flops, that feels awful. But if you write something you genuinely love and it’s a hit—that’s the grand slam.”
Next April brings another X Ambassadors album, one Harris swears clears that bar. “If I put it out tomorrow and one person heard it, I’d be happy,” he said, then quickly added: “I’ll be happier if a million people hear it.”
Watch the interview above and then check out the video below.
