ROE: Hanging On For The Truth.

There's nothing I love more in music than a multi-instrumentalist. How can a pilgrim of the music universe resist taking a look when facebook shows you a video of a woman singing into a microphone whilst playing guitar, who leans over to strike drum pads to her left and trigger synth loops to her right? All without missing a beat. This video depicted songwriter and performer ROE, the musical wonderland of Derry based Roisin Donald. And now 2020 sees the release of her new EP, 'Things We Don't Talk About', on both vinyl and digital.

Despite the brilliant slots ROE would play in support of Snow Patrol's U.K. and Ireland Tour of early 2019, and Kodaline later that year, not to mention the fact that she'd already played Glastonbury in 2017 - I wouldn't see ROE live until July 2019. This was in support of Robbie Williams for British Summer Time at Hyde Park. By this time she'd already released a string of singles including 'Cheek, Boy', 'Playground Fights', and 'Wasted. Patient. Thinking.' At the Hyde Park gig, ROE would say of her single 'Hey Thomas':

'There's a lot of like young ones floating about so I don't want to swear. But this song is basically an F-you to all the boys everywhere in the world. Yeah!'

The beat kept with finger clicks in the beginning, and a smooth guitar riff below ROE's voice, this is a great example of who ROE is. Her voice is unconventionally powerful, putting meaning into every line and in all honesty I can't liken it to another voice I've heard. ROE's voice isn't angsty like Alanis Morissette, not rocky like Joan Jett, nor does it have the traditional labels that would cause people to categorise her as an 'Irish' singer, like nationality can be used as a genre. Nope, this voice is...ROE. That's all there is to it.

‘I know it's a lovely summer day and I hope you're all having a great time, but who here has ever had a bad day? Come on. Yeah. I think that's probably all of you guys. And all of those guys over there, and everyone else in the world. This next song I wrote when I was having a really bad day and I felt like I couldn't talk to anybody. I felt like I was just annoying them and I was angry and agitated at myself, and I didn't really know what to do about that so I kind of just cut myself off for a day and locked myself in my room. I started writing down whatever came to mind and whatever came to mind ended up becoming this next song. It's kinda just about how thinking can be debilitating sometimes and know that you're not alone, even though it feels like it. But I also hope that you're having a lovely day. So this song is called Down Days.'

'Down Days' is an entirely different song from Hey Thomas. This one is piano driven, though the hard beat is somewhat of a ROE trademark in these songs. The layering on Down Days is more extreme than the previous single, yet live, it's easy for ROE to pull this off as I heard in Hyde Park. There's an excellent example of a stripped down version on ROE's youtube channel as she performs in her Snow Patrol support slot in London's Wembley Arena. I can only imagine how good this would sound with a full band.

‘This next song is my most recent single. And that's quite cool and also terrifying. Yeah, it's basically about social expectations and what you see on facebook and instagram and everything, thinking that you have to live up to that, but you don't.'

'Girls' builds on the expectations spoken about in Hey Thomas that are placed on women. The video for this song is an inexpensive way of showing that, with a highly made-up ROE being jerked about from left to right by make-up artists. Hair being fiddled with and brushes galore. My neck hurts just watching this. Musically, it's a return to ROE's more upbeat sound with a particularly infectious chorus.

In a break from her own music, ROE contributed to the Irish Women In Harmony cover of 'Dreams' by The Cranberries. This was done in support of Safe Ireland, a charity raising awareness around domestic violence against women and children, which has risen drastically since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Other contributors to this recording include Caroline Corr, Imelda May and Orla Gartland.

ROE's EP 'Things We Don't Talk About' was released towards the end of August. In celebration of this, ROE performed a livestreamed set at The Guildhall in Derry, with support from Reevah. Filmed with four HD cameras, and featuring ROE's drummer Jay Dickson (who also accompanied ROE on her headline U.K. and Ireland tour in February), it's the closest fans might get to a live performance for some time.

Things We Don't Talk About opens with 'Hotel', which immediately breaks away from what we've heard from ROE so far. Instead of the hard beats and guitar riffs, this track begins with piano. The build up with the lyric 'my heart is on the line' gives way to a programmed beat and a lull before the listener is hit with something that wouldn't be out of place in a club. The verse lyrics, 'It’s my fault for caving in, I believed in him, like a dog for some attention, I’m addicted and I thought it's what I wanted, now I’m hanging on for the truth,' are certainly powerful.

'Look Who's On TV' was released ahead of ROE's headline tour in February, the song receiving an acoustic lockdown performance on her instagram page later in April. This one brings the guitar back into the fold whilst keeping the club feel. The picked chords lend themselves well to acoustic performance. Despite the upbeat feeling of the track, there's a melancholy in ROE's voice that is echoed in the lyrics. These particular lines got me; 'I wish that I could be somebody else so I could feel like I’m perfect and I know that I should love the way I am but it’s a lot to get used to.' I think a lot of people can relate to this, unfortunately.

Released ahead of the EP in May, the video for 'Room to Breathe' is lockdown based, showing ROE's life at home during this time. It's cool to see ROE dealing with her own merchandise, I always love when artists are involved in that side of their career. The music in this song is so much more natural, featuring strings and is largely devoid of a beat, though it's still there in ROE's vocal rhythm and guitar playing. This is a song that embraces it's melancholia and certainly benefits from that decision.

One of the things I love about 'Marco' is the out of tune guitar, genuinely. When do you ever hear that pulled off and it be cool? Marco has more of a band feel with guitar, piano, drums, and we're back to the upbeat style. The performance version included here is a great example of a ROE live show in 2020. The closing lyric reads - 'On the sidelines nothing ever changes, I’ve been here a while, but he’s never gonna notice me'. Marco sounds like an absolute fool. The production is great on this track, even down to the inclusion of the crowded room noise.

'A Quiet Place' is the final track on this EP, and I could see a crowd bouncing to this at a gig! A Quiet Place is the culmination of everything you've heard on this EP. It's got a beat that moves, it's awash with synths, guitar, and ROE's expressive voice. Keeping up with the theme of things we don't talk about - 'Staying out late to stay with each other, holding out hope there is something better, it’s quiet out here it won’t be forever, complicated I don’t wanna tell you.' I can't wait to hear what ROE does next.

1. Tell me about the recording of your EP, 'Things We Don't Talk About', where was it done and what was the process like?

Most of this EP was recorded before lockdown between my house and my producer Liam’s. We recorded ‘Room to Breathe’ as a full take in Small Town America recording studios here in Derry because I felt the environment there suited the vibe of the song and it turned into something incredibly special. This EP really came together on its own, these songs represent the journey I’ve gone through sonically and lyrically as an artist so collectively they felt right together. It took a while to find the right direction for ‘Hotel’ because there seemed like endless possibilities there, so that was probably the most tedious part of all of it but I’m so happy with how this EP came to be. 

2. How did the writing process start with 'Hotel'? Was it written on piano originally?

‘Hotel’ initially began on guitar and when it came to writing, the words just flowed together. This song was written in a night or two which is really strange for me personally. There were endless discussions on whether guitar was how it should be portrayed or if piano suited the song better, it went through so many different versions before the final version was finally settled on and felt like the most natural progression from where it started. 

3. The official video for 'Room to Breathe' is certainly lockdown influenced. If 2020 had gone as planned, would this music video have come out differently?

If it wasn’t for lockdown, ‘Room to Breathe’ wouldn’t have been a single so there wouldn’t have been a video at all! But because of the unique situation I felt like this was the right time to release it into the world and I’m so glad I did. It’s a song about taking time for yourself and because the world seems so chaotic and uncertain right now, the message in this song felt like it needed to be said. 

4. It must be great to finally play music in the same room with someone, as in your 'Marco' video. What was that song inspired by?

I can’t even describe how exciting it was, I’ve missed that feeling so much. ‘Marco’ was inspired by having to deal with disappointment in life and moving on to better things. It’s about remembering that not everything will happen for you but the things that do make all the disappointment worth it. 

5. Prior to 2020 you performed your gigs solo, but Jay Dickson accompanied you on drums for your headline gigs at the start of the year. Ideally, what size band would you like if money and time was no option?

My band would be massive if there were no restrictions! But right now with it being just me and Jay is extremely cool. It’s so nice to have that connection on stage and with the music I’m currently writing I don’t think a full band is off the cards for future shows. Just have to wait and see. 

6. You played a string of arenas supporting Snow Patrol last year, what was it like to be playing such huge venues for the first time?

Playing arenas was an absolute dream of mine and to actually have had the opportunity to be up on those stages performing my music was unbelievable. I was so nervous for the first show because you have no idea what to expect, but once I started playing it went by so quickly. Snow Patrol are the biggest legends for having me on that tour. 

7. Going back a little, what inspired the music video for 'Playground Fights’?

The song itself is about the fear of losing the childish side of yourself as you grow older, the video was inspired by the message of the song. 

8. You used to play a track called 'Monster' in your set, is that likely to be released in the future?

Maybe! Right now I love opening my set with that song and whether or not it stays a live secret between me and the audience is something I haven’t decided yet. 

9. I saw you perform at BST in Hyde Park last year, what do you remember about that day?

That day was surreal. I’ll forever remember being backstage with all of the huge acts playing and how much fun it was to see Robbie Williams play. It was an amazing experience as a performer but also just as somebody in the crowd having a great time. 

10. It was awesome to see you be a part of Irish Women In Harmony, how did you become involved with that?

RuthAnne reached out to me through instagram about doing the cover of ‘Dreams’ in aid of SAFE Ireland and from there a whole IWIH movement began! I’m honoured to be involved alongside so many seriously talented womxn and excited to work with them again in the future, it’s a whole community of positivity and it’s here to stay. 

11. Finally, can your fans expect another music video from 'Things We Don't Talk About' in the future? 

Right now it depends on COVID-19 restrictions, but hopefully yes!

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Purchase ROE's vinyl EP, 'Things We Don't Talk About', and other merchandise here.

You can find ROE on facebook @roemusicofficial, on twitter @roe_music and on instagram at @roemusic.