The Weekly Coos

I won’t front; I love Mid Air by Romy, but it’s because it’s more than just a dance/electronica/pop album; it balances two contrasting ideas and grounds them between different aesthetics while still keeping depth in its writing and vocal performances as the latter becomes an angelic motif throughout. I’m fond of electronic music of all varieties, and albums fluctuate in style, as not all get personal or in-depth with the writing and performances; some are subtle and nuanced since the sonic molds surrounding them are the energy one relishes at the nightclub. Mid Air is more of what I had mainly steered towards; the singer-songwriters who do it both because they have much to say and use this medium to get it across since, after all, it has the space to expand the mold of your sound while staying tangential. That isn’t to say I dislike more straightforward DJs, but there is something to these artists who add definition and more direct personality. Jayda G did so with her album Guy this year, and Mid Air does so with more potency and memorability; Romy’s singles set that mentality, and it delivers.

“Strong,” “Enjoy Your Life,” “Loverher,” and “The Sea” are the singles preceding the release of Mid Air – their memorability reflects high with the rest of the album with songs like “One Last Try,” “Twice,” “She’s On My Mind,” continuing to keep you focused on this experience of an album. Its depth in both melodic catchiness and refreshingly different soundscapes keep it on a steady path where the wheels keep turning, and those sentiments one felt throughout “Enjoy Your Life” come at you through different fantastic fashions. We get hits of House, Trance, Dance, and Pop all intertwined into one direct and solidly paced progression of music with flow and emotional impact, especially as we hear Romy speaking personally through aspects of love, perseverance, and more. “Strong,” one of her many collaborations with Fred Again… is this remarkable progressive trance track that speaks to Romy’s grief after a relationship and creates this understanding that one shouldn’t have to feel so reliant on having to go through it alone. The heightened Trance elements in the chorus add immense dimension to the already unique hybrid of pop and trance.

Much of the content of Mid Air is personal to Romy; at the same time, it’s interpersonal as her emotions through the narratives will reflect with some of the listeners, like fans in the queer community, as Romy, who is gay, brings that sense of connection through her history with an ex or current wife, Vic Lentaigne, amongst other moments that had her feel differently, like past relationships. Like when you hear her nervousness that comes with expressing love for a significant other in “Loverher” because you don’t know how people may not accept it, which she notes through her verses where she sings, “Hold my hand under the table/It’s not that I’m not proud in the company of strangers/It’s just some things are for us.” Yet, internally, Romy knows that if they ask, there won’t be any reluctance to say she doesn’t love her. It’s a beautiful contrast that shows how these connections speak physically and vocally. Though much of the music speaks on these feelings, which do branch out from a central theme of love, Romy is consistently finding ways to keep it fresh and refined as she does with “Weightless,” where she finally understands that these feelings she has are real and they are okay. It has a grounded sense of what it’s like to feel that intangible love.

Romy continues to reflect on aspects of love in songs like “The Sea” and “Twice,” which have contrasting themes. The former sees Romy singing about this love that she felt about Ibiza, which began during a trip for Oliver Sims’ thirtieth, and subsequent trips back like for her honeymoon – which she noted with Apple Music – while the latter sees her reflecting on this regret where she wasn’t all comfortable publicly loving this woman, and that caused a rift as they kept themselves more hidden and together. It continues with songs like “Did I” and “She’s On My Mind,” the former of which reflects on a time in Romy and her wife’s life when they were younger and broke up, and the latter brings all that love energy into this luscious Disco song that speaks to the night’s end, or as she put it to Apple Music, “it feels like the end of the night when you’re at a party and someone puts a disco song on and everyone just has their hands in their air…Just embracing and accepting how you feel.” Through this journey that Romy takes us on with Mid Air, that last sentence speaks to what it wants to deliver, especially when you take the time to sit back and listen to the lyrics before getting up and dancing.

Much of the production comes from Romy, Stuart Price, and Fred Again…, with a few touches from artists/producers like Korless (FKA Twigs’ producer), Brian Eno, Jamie xx, Francine, and Avalon Kahley Emerson to round out a spectacular cohesion of sounds and vocal performances, with notable highlights being Jamie xx’s co-production on “Enjoy Your Life” and Korless’s co-production on the interlude, which offers a short moment for one to breathe before hitting you with the emotionally heavy trancey “Strong.” In continuation with Trance, Romy, Fred, and Stuart Price create this nuanced reflection of the early 00s trance on “Did I;” “She’s On My Mind” is this beautiful progressive post-disco song; “The Sea” brings elements of tropical house into the fray, all connecting without much of drawback, and keeping you entwined into the music from beginning to end, even when it gets more clubby like with “Twice.” There is just so much to love about this album, but I have to say, it’s an experience that will remain locked in my head, and maybe more than “Enjoy Your Life,” a phenomenally anthemic house banger. 

I loved Mid Air, and part of it does come down to preference and how it hit those notes. Unfortunately, it isn’t something that’s pure perfection. It has flaws, like some of the linear production notes that aren’t as expansive but are enough to stay afloat graciously, like the last song, “She’s On My Mind” or “Weightless.” However, they find balance and deliver something grand that I could stop keeping on repeat. I hope you dig this as much as I did.