Songfacts®:

• Middle Kids lead singer Hannah Joy started writing "Edge Of Town" before the band was even formed. She was studying music at university and was making music on her laptop using a synthesizer. She came up with a little bass line on the synth that brought up the image of someone walking. With that image, she developed a story about walking to the edge of town when the road cracks open and sucks her in, putting her face to face with the "king of the underground."
  
  "I wanted to have this image of someone walking along and feeling like everything was OK, that they were in control and knew what was going on, but actually their world gets totally turned upside down," she told Triple J. "There's this whole other realm existing that you pop into, and you realize you actually have no idea what the world is about."
• The song ended up being very different musically from the electronic version Hannah Joy started with. She and her bandmate (and husband) Tim Fitz came up with an arrangement heavy on guitar. She was new on the instrument but was able to play the chords. Fitz added slide guitar, inspired by alt-country artists he likes, like Sharon Van Etten.
• "Edge Of Town" was the song that brought Middle Kids together. Hannah Joy and Tim Fitz had drummer Harry Day play on it, and it went so well, they formed the band. The song was released as their first single in 2016 and jumpstarted them. It got lots of play on Triple J in Australia, which got the attention of Conan O'Brien's people, who had them perform on his show, earning them a fanbase in America as well. They included the song on their debut album, Lost Friends, in 2018.
• According to Tim Fitz, "Edge Of Town" combines "the rawness of Pixies with the expansiveness of Coldplay."
• Middle Kids' fellow Aussie Paul Dempsey covered this song for the Triple J "Like A Version" series in 2017.