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EP REVIEW: NO ROME - RIP INDO HISASHI


No Rome is a London based artist and producer. The young Filipino artist had previously released a collection of songs in one of his first projects titled Hurry Home & Rest under the Manila-based indie label, Number Line Records, around 2015. In the same year, he gained traction online for releasing singles in his Soundcloud account. With songs that play around with various electronic music production techniques such as the Amen break, drum & bass, or even coming close to other experimental phases of music such as noise pop. I wouldn’t really cite actual influences because No Rome is inexplicably is his own sound. I couldn’t really elaborate much on it but I know for sure that No Rome doesn’t completely copy a sound, instead paying homage to artists that inspired him to produce more music. His continuous single release schedule had gained the attention of music producer Ryan Hemsworth, making No Rome release a couple of singles under his Secret Songs compilation, further expanding his reach to a wider international audience. Later in the year 2016, he caught the attention of Matt Healy, lead vocalist of famous alternative-pop/rock band The 1975 from the UK. That attention, and their mentor-protege-esque relationship landed him a pivotal role in becoming one of the label darlings of Matt’s growing record label called Dirty Hit Records. In 2017, he moved to the UK to work on his upcoming EP, which is this EP right here, titled “RIP Indo Hisashi”. Inviting both Healy and his bandmate George Daniel to create this pop project. “RIP Indo Hisashi” is a four-track EP that runs over 14 to 15-minutes long and it houses tracks that varies from r&b-laden tracks to synth pop (I swear to god that I won’t be crucified for comparing other tracks almost blindly but it’s close to what I hear from my experience). Starting the EP is the first track, “Do It Again”, this takes the EP from another level with the variety of music being presented by the very first minute of the song. Rome’s vocals sets the tone of the track really well while the second track “Seventeen”, one of the highlights in the entire EP for others, has this quiet yet intimate setting where there are hints of hi-hats and thin 808 snares going left and right while the sweet bass drop at the climax midway through track. It’s a tearjerker of a track and it calls a comeback for the bittersweet feeling of nostalgia. And you can hear No Rome’s voice just beg to become young again while the beautiful guitar licks serenades the listener to the very end. The third track, “Narcissist” ft. The 1975, one of my favourite No Rome tracks ever to be released, has this futuristic r&b vibe where you get this beautifully sampled Jay Park song wooing in the background while Rome and Matt creates this brand new sound of their own. The structure isn’t the usual verse-chorus-verse structure, it takes on a very complicated structure rather but it’s still effective and I happen to discover something new everytime to listen to it again and again. The final track, “Saint Laurent”, takes on a very upbeat (like tell me, 3 out of 4 songs were upbeat here) so this one is the most upbeat tracks in the EP. Rome uses repetition of lyrics in his advantage and it’s a good thing it doesn’t come off as redundantly numb track because the lush yet glitchy production saved “Saint Laurent” from being the weakest among the four.

Overall, No Rome’s talent in pushing the boundaries of pop music is ever present in his debut EP. Showing superb amounts of consistency production-wise. The EP doesn’t show too much, in fact, we want to hear more of No Rome’s music after this. Some worthy examples to point out here in this project are the notable uses of sampling such as vocal chops, voice pitching and other elements of electronic music like down-tempo or bass drops for instance – all added for a powerful effect rather than being treated as sprinkles on top of the icing that is this EP. “RIP Indo Hisashi” may be an ordinary No Rome EP for many who only think that No Rome represents the Philippines, and I honestly think that a country has nothing to do with sound really. “RIP Indo Hisashi” is a benchmark of an EP that calls the attention for not just Philippine-based pop artists, but also helps address that there are many possibilities in today’s pop zeitgeist. Encouraging the new wave of artists to love who they are and push the envelope in terms of mixing the right sounds together. Be it from a country where pop music isn’t relevant nor important, No Rome rocks it loud and proud by being himself in RIP Indo Hisashi, and I bet all of us feel the same way he’s feeling; that is feeling the sudden bliss of dancing our arses off to happy-sad songs.

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