One of Canada’s hottest emerging acts, Toronto-based ROMES, return today with ‘CHOKER’, a captivating ode to the classic grunge and alt-rock sounds of the 1990s. The single, which marks the band’s heaviest track released to date, perfectly captures the nostalgia of that era with its raw emotion, crunchy distortion rich guitars and edgy, punchy drums.
“We grew up on 90’s grunge and alt-rock and a lot of those influences naturally found their way into writing CHOKER. We wanted to capture the nostalgia of the music we first fell in love with – the raw emotion and energy that inspired us to start making music in the first place,” share ROMES. “Certain production choices blur the genre lines that sparked the record resulting in the heaviest track we’ve done to date, both lyrically and sonically.”
‘CHOKER’, which follows the infectious, lyrically poignant and introspective single ‘WE NEED SOME HELP’, is now available on all major streaming platforms here and the lyric video can be viewed here.
ROMES, made up of Toronto siblings Jacob and Nicolas Bitove, spin songs from a wide web of influences from 90’s grunge and hip-hop to industrial and big beat, creating a sound that slices through genre conventions to arrive at a new form of alternative that is very much their own.
Their musical evolution has led to the duo garnering tens of millions of streams in 2022 alone, a number of spots on highly coveted playlists including Spotify’s New Music Friday in the U.S and Spotify’s Top 20 Rock Songs in Canada and landing multiple high profile synch features with the likes of EA Sports’ video games, major network theme songs, and global corporate campaigns, including Instagram and Abercrombie & Fitch. ROMES’ refreshing brand of genre-mashing has also led the duo to the main stage at Austin City Limits, playing direct support to The Strokes, and attracted the attention of Foster The People’s Mark Foster to collaborate on their single ‘Lose My Cool’.
Having spent years honing their chops and taking full artistic control over everything they do, from their production and artwork to merch design and video direction, the duo remain sharply focused on their vision – a project that breaks down musical and personal boundaries. The ROMES message is that deep down everyone’s a little broken, but ultimately it’s better to tune out the noise and doubt – to carve your own path. These introspective messages, speaking to a misunderstood generation, combine with explosive, hook-heavy choruses to create a bittersweet sonic landscape: the ROMES sound has one foot drenched in nostalgia and the other planted firmly in the future.
