London-based Filipino musician No Rome
(Picture: Aya Cabauatan)As with a few other signings to The 1975’s record label, Dirty Hit, such as Pale Waves and The Japanese House, the first thing to notice about Rome Gomez’s early singles was how much they sounded like the bigger band. On this debut album, George Daniel from The 1975 is still involved with the production, and there’s definitely something to the opening song, Space Cowboy, with its layered, digitally buffed vocals and jangling indie guitar, that could see it mistaken for a song by his bosses. But compared to the 22 tracks of The 1975’s indulgent, meandering last album, It’s All Smiles is over in a flash and still rewards close listening with an array of clever production flourishes.
Gomez began his music career in London but ended up making this album back in his original home of the Philippines after a trip to Manila to play at a festival became an extended lockdown stay. Perhaps it’s the distance that stengthened the break from his previous work. He doesn’t include some recent singles even though they featured bigger names. The bubbly hyperpop of Spinning, featuring Charli XCX and yes, The 1975, was very different from what he’s called the “shoegaze R&B” of this collection.
Secret Beach is dominated by a moody, droning electric guitar line, and though the bouncing vocal on I Want U lightens the overall feel, it’s still scuffed and crumpled by heavily distorted beats. The end result is a short, sweet pop album that’s been severely sandpapered – a sound that feels much more his own.
