Tony Resch records futuristic R&B-inflected pop as Royal Haunts. I is the first in a planned trilogy of EPs he intends to release this year. Synthesizing his family’s history in reggae and Caribbean music with his own interests in indie rock and British electronica, Royal Haunts is a project undeniably of the present moment in pop and house music, but Resch immerses it in his own sensibilities. Only five tracks, I compresses a story of deteriorating romance and mental health while maintaining its emotional range. It’s moody, sure, and it’s steeped in future bass ambience, but the EP holds up as a strong example of what bedroom producers should be trying to make.
“Movement (In the Stars)” is the opener, laying out some atmospheric synth parts and digitally obscured samples with a two-step UK garage beat. This jittery rhythm combined with Resch’s soulful vocal evokes influential artists like SBTRKT and particularly Disclosure, whose collaborations with Sam Smith seem to bear an influence on production and vocal performance alike. The chopped vocals and pitch-shifting also indicate Resch’s willingness to tuck in experimentally, rather than continuously clutch a microphone. It’s an airtight, cohesive, yet organic slice of modern electronic music, an incredible feat for a DIY artist. “Ageless” takes many of the aesthetic cues from “Movement” and reshapes them around a Kings of Leon-esque vocal, throwing in some chiming guitar for good measure. Resch’s rock music background enters the equation in a much bigger way, finding a middle ground between verse-chorus composition and the meandering feel of experimental beat music. The fluttering background vocals and crisp electronic drums play nicely with the broad lead parts, making for an emotional peak. “Apt.” is only a 90-second interlude, where Resch sings, “I think you should get your own apartment, babe” over neighborhood noise and electronic piano. His angelic background vocals evoke Bon Iver’s R&B-leaning moments, and the dialogue sample comprises one of the oldest production tricks, but the effect is solid. “The Bathtub” demonstrates some of the intense harp-like instrument sampling of Mura Masa with a Frank Ocean-influenced lead vocal and some slow lo-fi beats. The end of the track opens up the drums a bit and adds choral samples that may be from the traditional Caribbean music of his youth, offering a near-spiritual element to an intimate moment. “Signal” is an outlier on the record, consisting solely of a harmonized vocal with pitch and modulation effects. The effect is almost that of robots singing an Appalachian folk tune, bringing a storied, human aspect to heavily digital processing. A fully a cappella track is a risky maneuver on a largely beat-focused record, but Resch brings it home. Here, Royal Haunts has delivered a to-the-minute slate of modern electronic material with a timelessly impassioned vocal performance. I represents a capable fusion of stylistic tendencies both past and present, the sort of fusion that no doubt will guide pop’s refractive future. It’s exciting to observe someone hitting that nerve, especially on a home-recorded record. Hopefully the next two EPs hit their mark just as closely.
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