Outside of The xx, the group member who has most prominently pursued a solo career has been Jamie xx. He has a couple of albums under his belt over the past decade, and based on “Idontknow,” the single he released earlier this year, it looks like he has another on the way. Earlier this year, Romy Madley Croft revealed she had a solo album of her own (as just Romy) on the way.
Now she has shared her first taste of it with her new single, “Lifetime.” Although Romy is a guitarist by trade, her single’s sound is more in line with the danceable electronic-leaning music of recent The xx albums. That makes sense, considering Jamie xx is among the song’s co-producers.
Rome wrote of the song on Twitter:
“This song was written and recorded in lockdown. I’ve been thinking a lot about how short life is and how quickly things can change… my intention with this song is to celebrate life, togetherness, to appreciate the moment before it’s gone. I think subconsciously the upbeat energy of the song is a reaction to the stillness and anxiety I was feeling in lockdown.
I was missing the pace of the outside world, spontaneous moments, the euphoria of dance floors, of love and connections with my friends and family. I realised when everything was stripped back, simple moments of togetherness, meant the most to me. I’ve always loved club classics that unite a room, big emotional dance songs, that you can sing along to as well. I’m excited to have the opportunity to show my love for dance music with Lifetime.
I loved working with a very talented and inspiring group of people on this song, thank you so much to my collaborators Fred again.. @Marta_Salogni Joy Anonymous Jamie xx you are all incredible. I had dreamt that we could be dancing in a room together to this song by now, but until then I hope you can dance to it wherever you are!”
A few months ago, she said of her solo material, “For the past couple of years, I’ve been writing a lot of songs for other people, writing a lot of songs for myself, and I ended up with all of these songs, so I’m gonna release a solo album […] under my name, so it’s just gonna be under Romy. I’m gonna be hopefully releasing it soon. I have loads of songs and I feel excited to try something new. […] With my new music, I’m excited to make it a lot more upbeat. It’s not — although I’m playing on the guitar and I love the guitar — it’s not exactly going to be guitar music.”
Listen to “Lifetime” above.
This song was written and recorded in lockdown. I’ve been thinking a lot about how short life is and how quickly things can change… my intention with this song is to celebrate life, togetherness, to appreciate the moment before it’s gone.
— Romy (@romyromyromy) September 29, 2020
I think subconsciously the upbeat energy of the song is a reaction to the stillness and anxiety I was feeling in lockdown. I was missing the pace of the outside world, spontaneous moments, the euphoria of dance floors, of love and connections with my friends and family.
— Romy (@romyromyromy) September 29, 2020
I realised when everything was stripped back, simple moments of togetherness, meant the most to me.
— Romy (@romyromyromy) September 29, 2020
I’ve always loved club classics that unite a room, big emotional dance songs, that you can sing along to as well. I’m excited to have the opportunity to show my love for dance music with Lifetime.
— Romy (@romyromyromy) September 29, 2020
I loved working with a very talented and inspiring group of people on this song, thank you so much to my collaborators Fred again.. @Marta_Salogni Joy Anonymous Jamie xx you are all incredible 💕
— Romy (@romyromyromy) September 29, 2020
I had dreamt that we could be dancing in a room together to this song by now, but until then I hope you can dance to it wherever you are! 💖Romy 💖 https://t.co/bdGeQDzGpu
— Romy (@romyromyromy) September 29, 2020