Romi Peles’ latest single was one of those songs that basically wrote itself. “I remember it wasn’t a pleasant feeling—I felt in pain, exhausted,” recalls the Tel Aviv-based composer, guitarist and producer. “I was working on something else, but I had to stop everything. I quickly layered the guitars and recorded most of the vocals in one take. The entire lyric came together in that one take.”
Today, Peles is announcing the June 13 release of Break Up Album with the lyric video for “Demons Back In Town.” The deeply personal effort was produced by Peles and mastered by Stephen Marcussen (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Wonder). An acclaimed classical guitarist, the San Francisco native has recast his virtuosity within the parameters of psychedelic rock and electronic music over the past decade. His sprawling 2024 LP, Digital Dystopia, and its focus track, “Shoot Me Down,” found Peles a global online audience. But where that two-hour affair addressed the woes of a technology-dependent society, Break Up Album charts a far more personal course. As the title suggests, its 23 tracks cycle through the pain of a recent breakup, compounded by the latent grief of losing loved ones at a young age.
Yet despite the menace implied by the title and the tune’s disquieting chord progression, “Demons Back In Town” ultimately conveys reassurance.
“It’s for anyone who’s ever dealt with suicidal thoughts and felt alone in their struggles,” says Peles. “The demons may be back in town, but they will vanish soon.”
We’re proud to premier Romi Peles’ “Demons Back In Town.”
—Hobart Rowland
