Spotlight On: ROMY

SHEROES AND QUEEROES: A PRIDE MONTH CELEBRATION

ABOUT THIS WEEK’S SHEROES AND QUEEROES IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
(radio hour featured interview and podcast)

This week I'm so thrilled to bring you a very special SHEROES & QUEEROES Pride Hour with Romy of The xx, who just days ago officially announced her solo debut Mid Air, due out September 8th. The UK singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and DJ  Romy Madley Croft met her future xx bandmate Oliver Sim when they were just three years old, and have been best friends ever since. Romy began playing guitar at age 11, and soon was writing hushed songs that in retrospect, laid the groundwork for the now internationally known songs she has co-written with Oliver for The xx for fifteen years and counting. Together with Jamie Smith, now known as Jamie xx, they became a trio and released their 2009 self-titled debut, which  immediately captivated critics, while catapulting the band to some of the biggest stages and music festivals in the world, and winning them the coveted Mercury Prize within a year of its release. The trio has since released two other albums - Coexist in 2012, and I See You, in 2017, while Jamie xx also released his Mercury Prize, Brit Award, and Grammy-nominated solo album, In Colour, in 2015. Whatever the members of the xx do, it seems they are never far away from one another. Romy and Oliver both co-wrote a couple of songs on that album, and now Jamie has co-produced Romy’s upcoming solo debut, along with Romy and Fred Again. Outside of The xx, Romy has been co-writing for artists like Kelela, Florence & The Machine, Jessie Ware, Dua Lipa, King Princess and Halsey. Romy is also a DJ, a passion that has its roots in the queer clubs she and Oliver used to go to as teens. Romy’s new album Mid Air is a love letter to that music and a celebration of those spaces, as well as her most direct and openly queer collection of love songs to date. I invited Romy to curate a playlist for us, as well as joining us to talk about the new album, and the journey that brought her here. I'm so happy to welcome Romy for this very special SHEROES & QUEEROES Pride Hour.

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