On her new single “Feeling the Heat”, Romi O ushers listeners into a universe where lust, love, and loss occupy the same twisted realm with vivid intensity. The track taps into that dizzying high of desire, as well as the kick in the gut when you realize the fire might’ve burned on one side. It’s a song that animates the room, not one that plays in the background, it moves through you, surging forward with blissful highs and darkly suggestive undercurrents.
The drop also feels like a rebirth for Romi O. Fresh out of months of emotional hibernation, she emerges with a song born of feeling the fear, doing it anyway, and giving in to connection, to chasing passion even when it sets things aflame. “Feeling the Heat” exudes that double edge of freedom and fragility, the heady thrill of summer love combined with an ache of uncertainty. To hear that kaleidoscope of sound, listen to the single. Play Emotions bright synths that hit like sunlight on water, and urgent rhythms that blast the song along with the force of a fever. Romi O’s voice takes complete command of the stage and centers on a soft, yet magnetic quality, like someone driving you through a melancholy hall of funhouse mirrors and disco balls. Whispers of pop trailblazers like Charli XCX, Robyn, Kate Bush, and Lady Gaga ripple through the production, but the unfettered blending of styles puts this squarely in Romi O’s world.
Two things that make “Feeling the Heat” so effective are its fusion of the personal and universal. For anyone who’s given in to a connection that proved to be not quite as strong as it seemed, the song’s emotional undercurrent will singe. But its high-octane production won’t allow it, defiantly refusing to be confined to car windows, neon-lit dance floors, or the cozy warmth of your late-night memories.