Romy - 'Lifetime'

September 29, 2020 - Young Turks

‘Lifetime’ by Romy starts playing on my speakers, and I immediately think of ABBA, how delicious pop music can feel sometimes, how EDM waves of a banging four-on-the-floor beat and swishing, swashing, swelling, flowing instrumentation express the headrush of falling in love with someone in a bikini on the beach. With Romy’s breathy airy voice leading the charge over a punchy beat, the track is optimistic, joyful, and anthemic. It almost fools you into thinking it’s an old song—but the distorted angelic treble synth that comes in at the beginning and sings with the chorus is a tell of modernity, with a little more dissonance to it than the bubblegum 70s and 80s. That synth, like ripping the vocal chords out of an angel, is just a little off to the ears and keeps us grounded in the now. ‘Lifetime’ is a breadcrumb on the path from The xx to her first solo LP, which will be released at some undisclosed moment in the future. It might just be the context and the current smell of my stale Philly apartment, but something about this track release seems to manically paste the endless feelings of a youthful peachy summer dance party during prosperous times over the reality of this year, like spraying Febreeze over a burning garbage can. It’s a cute track, but I ultimately can’t quite suspend myself in the illusion that the impending explosion will feel this nice. ☔