By Margaret Adams
New York-based artist Juno Roome has released his new single “Just Like Before.” This is the singer-songwriter’s first release in 2022, after his 2021 single “gardens.”
The dream pop tune sets a sonic landscape in the listener’s mind. With the combination of the melodic guitar and smooth synth sounds, the track achieves a very dreamy and idyllic tone. The song’s production also communicates its own story; writing the lyrics in both English and Korean, Roome’s soft tenor voice evokes everything that a lack of understanding might miss.
“This is the first song that I had written in both Korean and English, I moved to the US when I was 10, so I don’t speak Korean very well at all; so when I wrote the first draft of this, I sent it to my mom for review and she said “this makes no sense.” I still don’t know if it makes a whole lot of sense,” said Roome.
There are multiple elements that make the song feel like a true indie song: the addition of trombone, played by Kalia Vandever, adds force and a bit more of an upbeat rhythm. This contrasts the melancholic nature of lyrics, as they tell an age-old tale that never seems to get old: heartbreak.
“But this one is about missing a relationship that didn’t quite work very well, missing their shadows on your skin, thinking back on those memories / intimacy fondly, while at the same time with the awareness that it probably wasn’t for the best… loss is hard no matter what,” said Roome.
Check out Juno Roome’s new single “Just Like Before” on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Youtube, and Soundcloud. Find this track and other great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture on Spotify.
Margaret Adams is a Psychology major and Rhetoric and Writing minor at The Catholic University of America from New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to her work with Alchemical, she writes for CUA’s student newspaper, The Tower, and has recently been named Quill Editor. She enjoys reading, writing, and looking at pictures of her dog, Bella.
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