Re:O are lead singer, composer, producer and lyricist Rio Suyama, bassist and co-lyricist James Wright, drummer and “Daddy,” Jay Stevens, and guitarists Jon Roberts & Alex Carli. Based in London, they’re relative newcomers to the alternative rock scene.
By Graeme Smith
Feature photo by Aga Photo London
Crimson Desire is their ninth single release and caught my attention enough that I wanted to chat to them more about it.
“Last year, I tried to create ten songs before going on a band journey, this is one of them,” says Rio. “I think I just put synth layers and other instruments like guitar, bass, and drums without thinking much. This is my writing style. Sometimes I start writing music from cool melodies but sometimes I just play synths until I find some cool melodies and sound.
“Vocal melodies came out soon after all the instruments were completed so I didn’t think it took much time to complete the songs. I always appreciate the guys understanding how the song should go for and tweak each instrument to make the song better.”
Working together, the band have composed quite a track. Pulsating electronica meets hard rock in an instrumental that doesn’t let up. Devilish vocals prove to be the most captivating element of it all, rich with charm and charisma during a swaggering verse before we get an air-punching anthem in the chorus. It truly captures the essence of alternative rock while adding some new and surprising twists to the genre.
A late track breakdown is hypnotic before the made hook comes sweeping back in, building to the track’s inevitable climax.
The lyrics are defiant and explore a bleak story about which I asked the band.
“When me and Rio were coming up with the story, we wanted to tell it was born out of frustration,” says James. “We were seeing friends and other bands around us getting more recognition, but we appeared to be stuck, and we couldn’t figure out why. It was demoralising and quite frankly put us in a very toxic headspace.
“To me the song has two meanings. The first is no matter how far we’ve come, we’re still striving to go further in our music career. With every milestone we hit we sometimes push it to one side and just carry on with the hard work. We acknowledge it and are grateful for the milestone but in general it just pushes us to work harder and go further.
“The second meaning is the negative headspace I personally found myself in getting stuck in this cycle of questioning why we weren’t making the progress we wanted, not being able to figure out what we did wrong and being envious of others. That is an extremely toxic place to be, and it had a massive negative effect on my mental health.
“The song serves as a warning, use your ambition to further your goals but also temper your expectations, if you don’t you will get stuck with a never-ending hunger and you will suffer for it. Take a look and appreciate what you have before it’s too late.”
It’s sound advice that’s beautifully delivered.
Crimson Desire serves as a great introduction to the band but doesn’t necessarily define them.
“When I write music, I try not to think about genres of music,” says Rio. “Otherwise, our music will be limited and generic metal music. In the future, we might have more pop songs like GUILD or heavier than Crimson Desire. All we do is write music that we think is cool. I would say our music is mysterious and futuristic that no one can expect what’s coming from us.”
“I don’t want to really sit in any normalized genre that is typical of many bands,” adds Jay. “We all collectively have different styles, and it would be a shame to hold back on that if all our songs were just being pushed into one direction all the time.”
With a show coming up at The Fiddlers Elbow in London on 19 September, I wanted to get a better idea of what the Re:O live experience is like.
“We give everything we have to the audience,” says James. “Our shows are always high energy and full of audience interaction, which is the best part! You’ll have to come along to experience what we have in store.”
“There is a connection with the audience when we play live as we always want them to interact with us by using music,” adds Rio. “You cannot experience the vibes and energy from videos. If you come to the show, we can drive you crazy and make the day special for everyone!”
“That’s the great thing about Re:O live; you never know what we will do next in any of our sets, and I guess that is why, we have listeners always come back for more,” says Jay.
With new music in the pipeline and ambitions to tour internationally, now is an exciting time to be discovering Re:O. If you like J-rock-infused metal with plenty of surprises, they could well be your new favourite band.
I’ll leave the last word to the band.
“I really appreciate people who keep on supporting us,” says Rio. “Every time we play live, we can see people wearing our T-shirts and they say they come to see us. This is what we didn’t expect at all! It feels weird but it’s really amazing.”
Crimson Desire is out now, and you can listen to it below.
Supported by Musosoup #SustainableCurator
