Roman Kayz Returns with an Electric “Fallout”
Roman Kayz has never sounded as charismatic or as bold as he does on “Fallout”. Hear the new single now.
Roman in suburbia, shot by this writer, Michael H.
It’s been a year since Roman Kayz, a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, released the closing chapter of the trilogy. With no playlisting or label support, the three singles became a viral hit for the singer, brandishing him a slow-burn fan favorite and introduced a songwriter interested in exploring new viewpoints and ideas about love.
the trilogy proved to be a big moment for the singer. The first single “like you said you would” hit over half a million streams in under a year. The final track, “i can’t afford to love you” , gained over 250,000. These songs leaned heavily into influences from the nostalgic era of indie pop, and established a new sound for the singer.
Today, though, Roman is re-introducing himself to listeners with “Fallout”, the lead single from his debut EP due on streaming services (and possibly more) this fall. After five years in music, it’s a pivotal moment for Roman as he seeks to carve out his own space in music. “Before I found my sound, I just wanted to write hit songs. I wanted to be a well-known musician. But that’s not the music I want to make,” he explained in our first interview in 2023. “I just want to make music that people can relate to and connect with on a personal level.”
But what Roman’s found, particularly with “Fallout”, is a penchant for the alternative and indie pop.
If the trilogy proved that he creates success with slow burn energy, “Fallout” makes a case for why he deserves a big pop star moment. Roman has always worked best with a concept - something that he engineered well with the trilogy - and “Fallout” imagines a new persona for the singer: a rebel, in the vein of Matt Healy or classic Hollywood bad boys. He’s the kind of guy who might seduce Lana Del Rey, ride on his motorcycle down the Pacific Coast Highway, and who, ultimately, wants to run away.
In clips posted to social media to promote the single, which we filmed over the summer, Roman wears a leather jacket and smokes Parliament cigarettes. He slinks down Sunset Boulevard, the Chateau Marmont looming above him, and wanders through suburban neighborhoods with the hills of California in the foreground. The music, he told me recently, “gives me the confidence to make my own sound. Make my own world.”
“Fallout”, then, is a burst of energy and catharsis as it rises to a climatic chorus. “Cause I believe,” he sings over a bouncy guitar, “you look so cold now/ Well, I don’t care/ If you swear to God.”
“Fallout” displays Roman’s versatility as both a rockstar and a pop star. The lyrics are characteristic of his vulnerable songwriting voice, but it’s his singing that sounds the most arresting.
You have likely never heard Roman sound this charismatic or inviting as you will here. Maybe that’s why when he tells you, “Take my hand” in the opening line, and says that “we’ll disappear into the fallout”, you want to run after him. Even if it all ends in destruction, “Fallout” makes a case for following Roman’s lead.
