New York City serves as home to the singer/songwriter trio Thirdstory, whose members Ben Lusher, Richard Saunders, and Elliott Skinner craft music that merges soul, folk, R&B, and indie pop in a manner reminiscent of Sam Smith, Drake, and Fleet Foxes. The year 2015 marked the group's formation, after which they cultivated an enthusiastic grassroots audience through their widely viewed YouTube channel featuring intricate three-part harmonies in covers of tracks originally performed by artists such as Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, and Tove Lo. Their first EP, Searching, arrived in 2017, the same year the three musicians toured alongside Chance the Rapper; their initial full-length album, Cold Heart, followed in 2018 under the production of Grammy winner Malay, known for work with Frank Ocean, Zayn, and Sam Smith.
