The Eden Boys

The Eden Boys are a fictional American synth-pop group formed in Newark, New Jersey in 1992. Known for their songs "This is Nowhere", "One in a Million", and their debut album "Welcome to New Eden", the group consists of lead vocalist Alex Newburgh and instrumentalists Tim Patterson and Daniel Lee. Their debut single "One in a Million", reached number 20 in the US Billboard Hot 100, with their first album, Welcome to New Eden reaching number 5 in the US Billboard 200.

Becoming a hit band in the late 90s, The Eden Boys would release three more albums before splitting up. In 2015, they reunited to record a fifth studio album.

History
In 1992, Alex Newburgh, Daniel Lee, and Tim Patterson met at Branch Brook Park in Newark as teenagers. Patterson was attending art class at the time, while Newburgh and Lee were attending music class. Discovering that they had the same taste in music, the three became friends. To test music, Patterson bought a synthesizer, which was funded by his mother, while Lee bought an electric bass. They played at Newburgh’s house located in Newark. The group came up with the name “The Eden Boys”, as it referenced the religious acts the trio attended at the time.

In 1993, The Eden Boys signed onto Atlantic Records to record a 3-track single titled “One in a Million”, which reached number 20 in the US Billboard Hot 100. This inspired the trio to write an album named, Welcome to New Eden, which was released on February 17, 1995, that sold well, as well as a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The band would later release two albums, California Dreamin’ in 1998 and The Grid in 2003. In 2001, The Eden Boys released their first EP titled How Did We Do It?, containing five non-album tracks.

In 2006, due to the members being on other projects, The Eden Boys announced that they would be splitting up, but will still decide to release one more album and do a short US tour before the split up. The album, One More Time was released on November 5 of the same year and peaked at number 54 in the US Billboard 200. Alex Newburgh pursued a solo career, while Tim Patterson and Daniel Lee formed their own band named The Paradise, with three other members, as the offshoot project of The Eden Boys. In 2007, a compilation album, titled Origins, was released and contained 14 demo tracks before the band signed to Atlantic Records.

In 2015, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Welcome to New Eden, Newburgh, Lee, and Patterson reunited as The Eden Boys to do a world tour, as well as releasing a new deluxe version released by Sony Music Entertainment, which contained 6 more new tracks that did not make it onto the original album. The band played the full album live, along with their other hits. A picture book titled The Eden Boys - How They Did It was released in the same year, and showed pictures of the Newburgh, Lee, and Patterson during their past life.

In February 2016, during an interview with Rolling Stone, the band had mentioned that something new had been in the works since January, and that they had signed a new deal with RCA Records, a label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. This gave rise to rumors that the band was writing a new album, though Newburgh, the lead vocalist, had asked people not to guess just yet. To keep things busy, in December 2018, The Eden Boys announced they would release a 6-track Christmas EP titled It’s Christmas Time Tonight!, one of the first music material released by RCA Records. The EP contains covers of some of the most famous Christmas songs such as “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. The EP also contains a cover of Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You. A compilation album titled The New Eden Chronicles: The Very Best of The Eden Boys was released on May 31, 2019 by Sony. The album contained 2 new songs titled The Chronicle and A Will to Live.

In December 2019, Newburgh was severely injured in a car accident in New York City, which resulted in the delay of a 15-date European tour the band had wanted to do since October. Suffering a broken arm and in a coma, he fortunately recovered in 3 weeks time, which gave the band the time to tour Europe in 2020.

More news involving the band’s new album resurfaced in June of 2020, where Patterson shared on his Twitter account a video of he, Newburgh, and Lee performing a song of what would later become Light World, the second song on the new album. Despite the fact that he said that they want to get the album out as quickly as possible, he also said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band’s recording rehearsals may be delayed due to social distancing, as well as Lee confirming that he had tested positive for the virus the week prior.

In November 2021, The Eden Boys had fully announced the album’s title as Traveler’s Tales, with a release date of May 6, 2022. Along with this announcement, the band had announced the first single "Life in Paradise" to be released the following month of December 10th. To promote the album, The Eden Boys announced a North American, European, and Asian tour previewing some of the songs, as well as playing some of their other hits, including songs from Welcome to New Eden.

Traveler’s Tales was released on May 6, 2022, receiving positive reviews from critics, and reaching the US Billboard 200 at number 7, making it their highest charting album since Welcome to New Eden, as well as reaching the UK Album Charts at number 13, their highest in the UK.

Influences
The band labeled Tears for Fears, Soft Cell, Bon Jovi, and The Cure as major influences.

Discography

 * Welcome to New Eden (1995)
 * California Dreamin’ (1998)
 * The Grid (2003)
 * One More Time (2006)
 * Traveler’s Tales (2022)