‘Throwing Stones’ marks the debut of a brand new band; as the London-based ROMAC unleash their first video to an unsuspecting public.
ROMAC’s lead singer Nicky Mac has certainly paid her dues and is no stranger to the music industry; During 2009 she fronted the well known electro-house band Cicada and toured internationally as well as playing UK festivals such as the iTunes Festival and Bestival. Soon after, she went on to form the Cameron McVey (Neneh Cherry, All Saints, Sugababes 1.0)-helmed girl group WooWoos with actress Tasie Dhanraj and Kitchen Party songstress Jess Martin-Campbell. After coming out of her contract with Universal Records, she soon went on to form ROMAC.
‘Deep’ is their debut track and it really sets the mood for their new EP. The song begins with an ominous but softly delivered piano that immediately reels listeners in with it’s enigmatic presence before pleasing the ears even further with a Trip-Hop inspired beat to reinforce the dark ambiance. In contrast, we are soon greeted by the charming soprano of Nicky’s voice, which falls upon your ears like that of a siren song as her ethereal tones chant abstract lyrics that seemingly contain allusions to alienation and moving on from a relationship that has turned bitter, be it romantic or friendly.
EP counterparts ‘Robots’ and ‘Coconut Cake’ are less menacing, but the musical experimentation doesn’t fade away. ‘Robots’, a song about learning how to love, feels like a chilled out version of a song that The Knife would write. The track is unafraid of jumping to places as the looping beats change from soft xylophone verses to catchy electro beats for the chorus.
‘Coconut Cake’, while keeping the experimentation alive, is probably the most commercial and fun of the three. The general vibe recalls a bit of Tricky (AKA a God of Trip Hop) and draws in a catchy island melody with tongue-in-cheek lyrics to bring a ray of sun to the darkness.
Wrapped in mystery and allure, ‘Throwing Stones’ is a brilliant project to debut this beguiling new band. One listen and you will come back for more.
With an album on the way (which they are currently finishing in the jungles of Malaysia), I’m sure we’ll be hearing much more of ROMAC before Autumn arrives.
The EP is available for free listening on their SoundCloud now:
[soundcloud params=”auto_play=true&show_comments=true&color=0ac4ff”]https://soundcloud.com/romacmusicuk[/soundcloud]
Watch the video to Throwing Stones here: