Romare - Love Songs: Part Two
- Written by Elliot Ryder
Romare is a man with a lot of love to give. It’s identifying the deserving recipient of such affection that appears to inflict the biggest strain on the heart. His stories of lust are told in typical cut and paste fashion on Love Songs: Part Two – the second full length effort from the London based producer.
Since emerging in 2012, Archie Fairhurst has quickly demonstrated an ability to disassemble tracks, corroborate working parts and breathe life into functioning entities of his own design. Love Songs: Part Two demonstrates the same quality craftsmanship, but only now tracks are fused together with fresh materials; wielded to fit harmoniously with used parts.
Drawing in unison an inimitable level of meticulous sampling with his own playing and instrumentation, Romare has enabled himself to go deeper. Here he has discovered a collection of innate love letters and tales. Half hand written, half collage, each is attentively recited over the course of the album, right down to the last detail. Having sipped on Parisian culture in a spell before moving to London, it’s no surprise Romare is fluent in the language of love.
“Who To Love?” ponders the album opener, before being abruptly jolted into life by rousing strings that mischievously attempt to creep by unnoticed, all the while fighting back the urge to be caught fleeing from whatever lewd act has been committed.
It’s quickly established that Romare is in no mood to be rushed. Absorbed by the moment he is recreating, climaxes are eventual on Love Songs: Part Two, and only reached after all the necessary constructive textures have been revisited. His encounters with love are not trivialised, opting for the dancefloor as his chosen setting to recall the personal experiences. With a growing reputation, the increased demand for Romare in DJ form has followed suit. As a result, his latest productions are moulded to spin comfortably beside a myriad of lights at the epicentre of a club space.
Songs move and grow, never resting or static for long periods of time. Consciously working in brighter disco influences than his previous productions, tracks like ‘All Night and ‘Come Close To Me’ – two easy going groovers specially assembled for limbering up the body – are destined to find themselves a useful addition to many a DJ’s collection. Before the heads down clubbing moment of ‘New Love’ arrives, ‘L.U.V’ proclaims: “When I say I’m in love, you best believe I’m in love” as its baseline rhythmically struts along, brandishing vibrant feathers intensified by the most enchanting of guitar licks.
‘Je T’aime’ chugs along ornately. ‘Honey’ lays itself bare in a charismatic moment of vulnerability. The fires of the dancefloor spread to ‘Don’t Stop’, setting alight a smutty guitar riff which rests on the arm of a saxophone dressed in pristine white tops and tails.
Fierce passion unloaded at an obtuse angle; Love Songs: Part Two longs for attention, and will go to lengths to ensure your head is turned if you play hard to get.