Photo Credit: YouTube
Words by: Cat Woods
Brooklyn-based artist Romi O (formerly Romi Hanoch) had to embark on both a literal and sonic journey before finding the formula for her forthcoming debut album, Edges, releasing July 26. At 22, she relocated from her hometown of Tel Aviv to the buzzing backdrop of Brooklyn, New York, where she has resided for the last 8 years. Recently, her musical evolution has crossed many genres, from indie-folk to shoegaze-influenced synth pop, navigating through a labyrinth of gnarly garage guitars and ferocious punk influence. Along the way, she has rediscovered her childhood adoration of heart-rending ballads following a “spiritual awakening,” where she made peace with the expansive definition of womanhood. Intuitively blending these incongruous elements in her songwriting, Romi O joined CONE via video call to discuss these themes and more.
“I have always had a very hard time picking just one thing, so this whole project represents the freedom to do whatever makes sense for the song,” she tells CONE. “When I’m writing songs, I never really intend for them to have a certain genre, they just come out a certain way.”
The release of singles from Edges, including “M2M” and “The Name” welds snarly guitars to a sinewy dance of synths, deftly balancing between electropop and post-punk. This fusion of live instrumentation and processed beats reflects Romi O’s journey to infuse genres with her own melodic flavor, mirroring her own personal struggle to find peace with her gender identity. While she cherishes ballads, she was averse to the overt feminine associations with folk sounds and lyrics about heartbreak. In contrast, punk represented wild rebellion, where conventional notions of beauty were unnecessary for authenticity. “I still struggle with that all the time,” she confesses. “I think a big part of why I wanted to have a punk band and play punk music is because I always tried to be non-gender, non-binary. Growing up, I was sad that I wasn’t a guy. I tried to fix me being a girl by playing in a punk band, wearing very loose clothes and singing really low, and screaming a lot. I still love that style.”
Indeed, Romi has been in rock band PowerSnap for eight years, alongside her high school best friend and bassist Noga “Nogi” Davidson. Romi notes that the two moved from Tel Aviv together, “and just naturally started playing song that I had written.” “She’s the best bass player I know,” Romi adds.
Together, they pursued Romi’s lifelong dream of touring as a punk band, but over time, things changed. “I’ve noticed in the past few years that it’s not really working, though. I did love it so much, but it feels like it puts me in a box because I have to stick to a certain genre,” Romi explains. Romi seems to have found more freedom as a solo artist, noting, “I can do whatever I want.”
Despite finding independence as a solo artist, Romi looks back fondly on her time playing with bands. Joining the psych-funk band Ghost Funk Orchestra, founded by Seth Applebaum, during her early period in New York provided her with a different perspective and platform for self-expression. “I adopted an extremely feminine persona in that band. My persona is very sexy in a very womanly way, wearing very fitted, sexy clothes and. That is also super fun to me. I feel like I’m such a walking contradiction, because sometimes I feel very feminine, sometimes I feel very masculine. I like not fitting into the description of what a woman is.”
Perhaps Applebaum noticed this versatility and complexity in the budding rockstar when he met her early in her New York journey. “When I first moved here, I was rapping at the time. I had a hip hop persona called Razor Honey,” Romi recalls. “Somehow, I met my very first friend in New York a few months after moving here, who took me to this open mic night to do my rap. The person who was running open mic tagged me on Facebook a few days later in this post of someone looking for a female rapper.”
Romi continues, “I was doing a collaboration with him where he sent me instrumentals, and I wrote rap verses and rapped for his songs. Then he started doing live shows with a band and asked me if I wanted to come do one of the songs. I said yes. I also said if he wanted me to do some harmonies for some other songs, I could do that, too.”
The journey from childhood Green Day fandom through phases of hip-hop, rap, funk, and into folk and synth-infused melodic pop is all reflected on her debut album. “M2M” with its minimal, jangly, and woozy synth melodies, is irresistibly catchy. Yet, beneath its hooky, toe-tapping surface appeal, the lyrics strike a chord with anyone (most of us, perhaps) whose minds seem hellbent on tripping us up, overwhelming with doubt and exhaustion. “Am I making a mouse into a mountain?” she croons. “Am I overreacting?”
The final verse is a repeated, self-deprecating inquiry: “Am I making bad decisions?”However, far from bad decisions, Romi navigates the complexities of her environment with maturity and panache. On “The Name,” she confronts the elephant in the room. As an Israeli Jew in New York City, she grapples with the burden of potential judgment amid the current socio-political climate. Her strong opposition to her government’s actions feels defiant yet complicated. This dissonance is vividly captured in the dark melodrama of “The Name.”
Discussing how “The Name” came together, Romi O says, “it’s actually the first song I ever produced and mixed myself. Usually, my process is that I write a song on guitar and then I find someone to help me make it come to life with more instruments. For this one, I really wanted to give it a shot myself. Even before it was completely written out, I started recording it just with what I have at my disposal, which is my computer, Logic and my guitars. And that’s kind of what came out.”
The song, like every other on the album, aims to provide solace to listeners who may struggle to articulate their emotions, but recognize them in music. With this in mind, Romi hopes that people will discover her music in an era where constant streaming and short attention spans can rob new artists of their opportunities to shine. “I’m definitely still praying for the algorithm gods to send my music to the right people who need and want to hear it,” the singer-songwriter says. “A lot of my fans are my friends, and people I know personally, but it is really wonderful to get messages on Instagram, on Facebook, on our emails. I get messages from people that are complete strangers to tell me that they like my music. I’m just always grateful for people who take the time to check out something new. I think that’s a really beautiful thing.”
Still, finding any favor with “algorithmic gods” might be a challenge for Romi, who has distanced herself from social media. She explains that It’s a necessity, especially at a time when online discourse around the Israel-Palestine conflict is highly amplified and polarized.
“I don’t leave the house that much since everything started on October 7,” she reveals. “I despise the Israeli government, and I despise the Palestinian authorities. Neither care about the citizens. It’s hard being someone who always prayed for peace and always hoped for everyone to get along and for people to stop being evil towards each other and killing each other. For a while, when I met new people, they would ask me where I’m from, and I would tell them that I’m from Israel, and I could see that immediately they didn’t want to talk to me anymore. So that sucks, and that hurts. So, I just stay home and work on my music and hope that that will help someone who’s having a hard time.”
With Edges, Romi has shaken off the shadow of her famous musician father’s legacy to make her own, individual and independent statement. The vulnerable candor of her lyrics might draw you in, but the earworm indie rock hooks will keep you coming back. In pushing into the edges of folk, synth and indie-pop, Romi has ultimately, authentically carved out her own sonic shapes on this stellar debut.