Introspection - Tony Romera

"Introspection" was released in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it seems reflective of much of the mood during quarantine period — the unspoken feelings we were all feeling.

Tony Romera channels an energy I cannot quite put a finger on. His French house production, almost reminiscient of synthwave, invariably gives each track an upbeat twinge, hopeful and happy and carefree, whilst the elements layed on top help provide that offbeat emotion, whether that be laid-back, wistful, or ebullient. It's the strange limbo state of emotion that keeps "Introspection" in check with the mood of the time of the pandemic: a withdrawn cheerfulness, a spirit that loves the freedom of the home but also rebels against the cooped-up quarantine aspects. "Introspection" is an escapism from that very quarantine, perhaps in the cheery "Party On My Own", the dense "Boogie", or the almost atmospheric "Surrounded By Fields (Intro)" — a track which, by the way, is the fifth longest in the album despite being labelled an intro. The French house motif is, once again invariably, also very well done. Tony Romera's synthwork is particularly good, and many a time it's the rolling leads and bright synth runs that drive each song home, complemented by clean hi-hats and house beats and a couple of well-incorporated vocals — not to forget the sampling, either, because, although it's overall quite simple, Tony Romera seems to be adept at taking a repeating sample and doing interesting things with it. Unfortunately, "Introspection" is largely 57 minutes of quite similar tracks. Although there is the occasional switchup, like the bass house roller of "MS69" or the liquid DnB of "My Love (Part II)" (although why was there even two parts?), many of the tracks rely on the same sparkly synths and upbeat house motifs to make it through their runtime, and — as expected — that makes this project feel rather repetitive. You'd think, though, that the repetitive production would nonetheless make for a consistent mood, right? I'd still argue otherwise — yes, it's better than many other albums in that regard, but "Introspection" still feels slightly disjointed in its message, relying on more abstract feeling rather than solid cohesion.

Undeniably, Tony Romera's French house production is impeccable, just not channeled into dependable areas. Yes, I think that "Introspection" could have been a very strong album — even more so contextually — and indeed I did feel that way upon first listen, but I ended up rating many of the tracks far lower than I thought I would. Ultimately, it's the repetitiveness that kills it, and so whilst I really hate to give "Introspection" a rating it should outperform by far, I just cannot in good faith give it a higher one. At the end of the day, Tony Romera misses gold by a hair's breadth — alright, maybe a few hairs.