Mid Air – Romy ★★★ 

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2023	Mid Air	Romy	★★★	61	Pop	Dance-Pop	Electronic

Romy’s solo debut Mid Air ignores many of the cutting edge trends and tropes of modern indie electronic music. Instead, she draws from the trance and Eurohouse sounds that peaked her interest growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s as a way to express herself now as a queer adult.

When done right, trance and dance songs of that era were freeing, letting people lose track of time in the repetitive beats and to let loose when long, musical builds would finally pay off. Songs were often a formulaic, four-to-the-floor style with some blaring synths or alarms, booming bass and, often, a female featured vocalist with a soft voice and melancholic delivery. 

Here, Romy taps into that overall feeling through these abridged, simplified versions of the songs that in a time past could have gone on for ages. Romy’s vocals are a natural fit alongside old dance-pop hits like Ian Van Dahl’s “Castles In The Sky,” DJ Sammy’s “Heaven,” “Not Over Yet” by Grace,  and even Everything but the Girl’s “Missing.” By providing vocals for each track, Romy also adds personality and cuts some of the repetition that could at times be a pitfall for many dance records of the past, which usually only utilized vocalists for singles or radio edits. 

When she’s really in her element — singing on soft intros and piano parts that draw from her time with The XX that — she produces a sound only she really can unlock. “Loveher” “Weightless” and  “The Sea” at the top of the record do that well. She also sounds good on the more disco-styled tracks near the end of the album  “Enjoy You Life” and “She’s On My Mind.” 

But, in an attempt to make the record more palatable to those who might have been intimidated by 7-10 minute long dance numbers (and possibly to avoid having to write endless lyrical verses), the short tracks on Mid Air don’t nearly have the same power behind them that a traditional dance track should. There are some dynamics, sure, and energy throughout, but the big moments here don’t hit the same way as they would if they came after a two or three minute bridge or a style-shifting reprise. And lyrically, her words aren’t revelatory enough in my mind to elevate the music beyond just being songs to dance to. 

It can be done well in an abridged form. Her debut single in 2020, “Lifetime,” I feel had more youthful energy and was really fun even at only about 3 minutes long. But that song would be a clear standout on this record, and highlights the extra potential that could have been here if there was a bit more electricity. 

It’s caught in this middle ground. It doesn’t have the edge or creativity or glitch of a modern electronic record from someone like Floating Points or Yaeji or Sophie or even Jamie XX. But it also doesn’t pack that same punch that club music in the past had. Ultimately, Mid Air is probably a better record than most of the albums it draws from because of the refinements and consistency, and for a pop or indie pop friendly audience, Romy does a good job at breaking down a lot of barriers that today’s experimental electronic music frequently puts up. But it doesn’t quite reach those really high moments that could come from longer builds or more interesting production techniques.