The xx’s Romy and Fred Again.. collaborate on ‘Strong’
Romy and Fred Again.. have come together in collaboration once again with the trance-inspired anthem ‘Strong’. The track comes in fresh two whole years after Romy – the co-singer and guitar of the xx – released her first solo single, ‘Lifetime’.
Back in January of this year, Romy joined Fred Again.. and HAAi for ‘Lights Out’. Now, she has once again begun working with Fred Again.., and ‘Strong’ is a “personal” song that explores grief and pays homage to the dancefloor-filling sounds of early 2000s euphoric trance.
Romy took to Instagram to write about the song. She said: “My cousin Luis is in the music video with me. He was on my mind when I was writing this song; we both have the shared experience of our mums passing away when we were young. I think we both kind of try to hold emotions down and put on a brave face about stuff – writing this has helped me connect with these feelings of grief and with him. I’m so grateful he was up for being in the video. Thank you Luis.”
She also paid her respects to her writing partner for ‘Strong’, explaining: “I really loved working with Fred on this song; our friendship helps me feel safe to be honest and vulnerable lyrically, and we definitely connect over our love of songwriting and emotions in dance music. It’s been so exciting seeing the journey this song’s been on since you played it in your boiler room. Fred you are the best!”
The track is accompanied by a music video directed by Romy’s wife, Vic Lentaigne. Thanking her wife and a few others, Romy added: “Thank you for capturing this moment so beautifully, Vic, you are amazing, and a big big thank you to all the team on the shoot. Also, a huge shout out and thanks to Stuart Price, who worked with Fred and I to evolve and finish this song. You are a hero.”
Check out ‘Strong’ below.
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