I love the term ‘Queer’. Once a slur, it has now been reclaimed by LGBTQ+ folks the world over as a handy umbrella term for anything and every under that rainbow sun. It could mean dressing like a girl, it could mean kissing boys, or it could mean, as in this case, writing otherworldly electro love songs while rocking some bold eye makeup. This is Roo with her debut single, ‘Glo’.
ROO – Glo
Roo is an independent artist, producer and coder. Despite a background in computer science and internships at Google and NASA under her belt, Roo gave it all up to pursue artistic dreams – although that electric knowledge and space inspiration has clearly been put to good use.
‘Glo’ is a dark electro ballad with vibes of R’n’B and futurism, communicating the pulsing tension of navigating queer love.
Roo displays all the vulnerability involved in such things, with lyrics like ‘If this was love we would feel no need to hide’ and ‘Here I am, all you get is this, how could I be enough?’, delivered in her quavering vocals with some impressive low notes. But there’s hope and beauty there too, the melodies swooping and scattering as Roo describes a lover ‘Taking the stars from the sky so I can feel the glow’.
The production is straight out of sci-fi, and I imagined myself floating quite happily weightless in the cosmos while it played. The spacey synth swells and buzzes, with those ticking trap beats and steel-sharp snare, all hit hard, but Roo allows some release with layered, sighing backing vocals and the occasional twinkle. Think FKA Twigs meets Stranger Things. It’s a track that’s not shy and is full of identity, and I can only hope to hear more from Roo.
Discover more from ROO
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Eden Tredwell
