Today, Hampshire trio Drug Store Romeos release their critically acclaimed debut album ‘The World Within Our Bedrooms’ on Fiction Records. The album has already been the subject of glowing praise from the likes of NME (4*) The Line Of Best Fit (8/10), Dork (4*), and more. They have also announced a headline and in-store tour, which sees them visit Brighton’s Resident music at 27-28 Kensington Gardens, North Laine BN1 4AL on 10th August.
Recorded at London’s Eastcote Studios with regular producer George Murphy, ‘The World Within Our Bedrooms’ is a testament to youth and adventure; an escape from mundanity and proof that art will always open a door for those looking to escape. The band explain: “The album is a journey of emotions and colour schemes. A lot of bands have a consistent emotion across their whole album but we wanted to reflect the ever changing nature of someone’s mental state over a period of time. We always wanted to create our own world, and as a three we have this force field around us.”
With their beloved Stereolab, Broadcast, and Mild High Club acting as guiding lights, the band sought to shake things up and push beyond the walls of their bedroom. Vocalist Sarah scoured vintage magazines for lyrical inspiration – inspired by Dadaist poet Hugo Ball – and hung a print of transcendentalist artist Agnes Pelton’s 1934 piece ‘Orbits’ in the vocal booth. “When I look at that painting it’s where I want my voice to exist,” she says of the work by an artist renowned for her abstract approach to depicting stillness, “I would sing and try to immerse myself in that.”
Across the album’s singles ‘What’s On Your Mind’ and ‘Secret Plan’, Drug Store Romeos have been continuously lauded by the likes of The Line Of Best Fit (where ‘What’s On Your Mind’ was crowned Song Of The Day), So Young, Dork, and Gigwise as well as being playlisted at the Independent, Notion, NME, and Coup de Main. Drug Store Romeos were also recently tipped in The FADER’s longstanding tastemaker series GEN F and by blog icons Pigeons & Planes as one of their 15 New and Rising Bands You Should Listen to in 2021. Drug Store Romeos have also been consistently celebrated across national radio by Jack Saunders, Huw Stephens, Phil Taggart, and Sian Eleri at BBC Radio 1, Lauren Laverne and Shaun Keaveny at 6 Music, John Kennedy at Radio X, Apple Music’s Matt Wilkinson and more.
Drug Store Romeos formed at college in nearby Farnborough when childhood friends Jonny and Charlie pinned an ad about finding a bassist for their new band to the school’s notice board – Sarah replied and quickly proved herself a better vocalist than either of them. Sharing affections for Suburban Lawns and Tom Tom Club, Drug Store Romeos cut their teeth playing live at college, Guildford Boiler Room and Aldershot West End Centre, rather than the familiarly trodden paths in London – although they did frequent the city as often as three times a week at one point; carrying all of their equipment back to Fleet by train as none of the band were old enough to drive.
While the band have since moved to London, by the time they came to record ‘The World Within Our Bedrooms’, all three members were keen to hold onto that wide-eyed energy for as long as possible. Those 3am walks home from Fleet station, with amps and flight cases slung over their shoulders, would become a rite of passage; the quiet countryside influencing their hushed atmospheric sound and nocturnal leanings, the tight bonds formed back home buoying their hypnotic and delicate blend of dream pop and synth-led explorations.
Having built an identity away from the London music scene in the otherworldly and isolated suburbs of Hampshire, Drug Store Romeos are emerging from their cocoon with a purpose, a direction and a fresh lease of life.
Check out the various purchase options for ‘The World Within Our Bedrooms’ HERE in order to see Drug Store Romeos perform live instore at Resident music in Brighton on Tuesday 10th August 2021 at 6pm.
Or if you are unable to attend, then order ‘The World Within Our Bedrooms’ HERE.
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