Marius Lauber AKA Roosevelt’s ambitious and breathtakingly modern follow-up to his self-titled debut is out next month. Young Romance sees the German artist breaking free from the dance floor and stepping out into the light, effortlessly bridging that gap and asserting his place in the upper echelons of guitar and synth-pop royalty. Now less reliant on a four-to-the-floor kick drum as a rhythmic backbone, this sophomore record sees him embrace grooves of all shapes and sizes, as demonstrated on first single ‘Under the Sun,’ and most recent offering ‘Forgive,’ which featured the inimitable vocals of Ernest Green of Washed Out.

New single and final song on the album ‘Getaway’ is built around a pulsating and relentless baseline, culminating in an epic crescendo of layered synths and reverb-soaked guitars. A mid-tempo comedown from an album often littered with euphoric moments, it is one of Young Romance’s stand-out tracks, the slow burning and glorious finale it undoubtedly deserves.

Marius has this to say on the track: “‘Getaway’ was one of the last tracks I finished in the studio - I felt like there was the need for a track that didn't follow a conventional song structure and just builds on the same chords. There's something about not revealing a twist in the song, but instead to play with open cards from the beginning and to increase the tension dynamically through out the five minutes of the song. It's meant to be a very lush and positive song about escaping to an imaginary place. Compared to the rest of the album it's a very synthesizer-heavy track, most of the parts are played with a vintage Minimoog.”

Young Romance was written in his home town of Cologne and finished in Los Angeles, where it was also mixed by Chris Coady (Beach House/Grizzly Bear/Future Islands) at the legendary Sunset Sound Studios. Penned from self-reflective distance and brimming with fresh ideas and confidence, Lauber balances escapism and wistfulness in equal measure, documenting his own artistic transitions and personal experiences along the way. “I ended up processing a lot of emotions that I felt during my youth” he says, “faded relationships that haunted me for years, being on the road for what seemed like forever and the constant search for a place to call home.”

Young Romance covers the trials and tribulations of falling in love, finding ‘home’, going on tour and losing touch, propelling Roosevelt into unchartered territory, both sonically and aesthetically, and the results are thrilling. It is set for release via Greco-Roman/City Slang on September 28, with Roosevelt embarking on his biggest ever headline tour across Europe and N America.

TOUR DATES

Europe

Nov 8 - London, UK - Oval Space

Nov 9 - Manchester, UK - YES

'Getaway' is the new single from Dublin trio The Stoles, and it’s the first single from the forthcoming album, Age of Deception.

It's been impossible to predict what The Stoles will do next as each single they have released has altered expectations and offered something unexpected. Last year's 'I Don't Get Along With You' was an impressive heavy rock number in the vein of Queens of the Stone Age and El Camino era The Black Keys.

'Getaway' further evolves their sound. It starts out with some heavy bass and drums, and when the guitars come in they seem to set up a clichéd 12-bar riff but they sidestep the obviousness deftly before the main riff comes in sounding like Johnny Marr or John Squire.

The rhythm section provides some real heavyweight rock while the lighter guitar melodies and Antonio Derosas' vocals lift 'Getaway' clear of the stereotypical hard rock mire. Derosas' lyrics and vocal lines again toy with mainstream rock tropes but he employs melodic tricks more typical of folk, country or musical theatre to avoid the pitfalls of predictability.

The Stoles may toy with expectations in their songwriting but with this taster of the forthcoming album those expectations have been further raised.

'Getaway' is relased on Friday (8th July) and is available from Amazon.