Shoegaze R&B star No Rome has released his debut album, It's All Smiles. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
Recorded in a small apartment in Manila after the pandemic prevented him returning to London, the album was co-produced by Rome with BJ Burton (Kanye West, Bon Iver, Charli XCX) and George Daniel (The 1975).
We need your consent to load this Spotify contentWe use Spotify to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
New single I Want U, which received its first play from Zane Lowe last week, began life in 2019 and helped form the foundations of the album
"This is the first song me and BJ worked on - that's when we knew we were gonna make this album together," he says. "I wanted to do the lyrics more like talking, storytelling almost, painting the picture of what was happening that moment through lyrics."
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I'm a songwriter from Manila, Philippines. I like to make a lot of weird sounds with my laptop. My new album is out now
How would you describe your music?
I'd say it's pop music.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Too many but to mention a couple who really inspired me - Gdragon, Yasutaka Nakata, Björk, Nujabes, The Dream, The Streets, Prince, My Bloody Valentine, Aphex Twin. Like I said, too many to mention haha.
What was the first gig you ever went to and the first record you ever bought/downloaded?
First album I bought was All Eyes On Me by Tupac on cassette 'cos it was pretty famous around my street at the time and metro station on CD. I also downloaded Three Rings by T Pain for download.
What's your favourite song right now?
Black Skirts - Dientes.
Favourite lyric of all time?
"Pretend to everlast a lady, Marlboro belt buckle baby" - Sweet Shine by Sonic Youth.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life what would it be?
That's hard, man. I'd rather not live.
Where can people find your music/more information?
You can look up No Rome on socials and streaming places :)
