"Day&Night," the latest single from Taylor Roche, starts off like a simmering flame. "I don't want to admit it / are we finished?" He questions over the low rumble of bass and drums. There's the expectation that, at any moment, the song might burst into a wildfire. Instead, however, Roche makes a calculated and exciting choice: let the smoke fill the room. As the chorus breaks out, Roche's buttery voice is washed in a haze of 80s-era synths. "Every day and night / I leave my heart on the floor," he confesses. The catchiness of the song—a true ear worm pop anthem—goes hand in hand with Roche's inability to move on from the relationship.
"We can't go back to what we had just because everything went wrong." At points, Roche is able to reach more clear-eyed conclusions such as this. These moments are tremendous peaks, feeling like small glimpses at the person behind the smoggy daze. Just as thrilling, however, are the less penetrable moments when Roche blends these observations into a mosaic much harder to distinguish. "Every text it was subliminal / was it a test you had finessed and now I'm stuck," reads one of the most scathing remarks. Just as, musically, "Day&Night" is a puzzle-box of false starts and trapdoors, the lyrics paint Taylor Roche as a mystery of his own.
Taylor Roche began professionally performing out of America on cruise ships touring with bands. The New Zealand-based artist shifted gears to his solo career after the pandemic. Drawing upon a wide-range of stylistic influences and eras, Roche crafts each song with the polish and creativity of an expert. Spending the past year and a half collaborating with producers and songwriters, Roche is preparing to release a collection of songs in 2023. In addition to music, he has also garnered a wide following on the Tiktok platform. "Day&Night" arrives as the second single Roche has released this year.
Written By Andy Mockbee
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