UK dark wave? <3
18 December 2025
Past Life Romeo is the solo project of Sugar Pills alum Cam Djadja, seemingly created in close collaboration with Carlos Loverboy. ‘You Look Just Like Me’ is their debut EP, released just at the end of May. The self-titled first song is a gentle lament, thinking about the end of a past relationship and kicking off what will continue to be the theme for the rest of the album. It’s pretty, starting with haunting vocals and evolving into a nice electronic track.
Originally released on Valentine’s Day, ‘Sometimes Most Nights’ seems inspired by classic emo rap as Djadja stresses about the bad habits of both their lover and themself. They described the track as “UDM” or “unhinged dance music”, but for the most part this remains a gentle contemplation. Most doubted it would ever happen, but it seems the hardcore emo movement is back, swooping face covering fringes and all. Enlisting the help of artist/filmmaker Vega Royer-Gaspard, the SMN music video features the kinds of emo love that would have gone viral back in the Tumblr and Myspace days.
‘Saliva’ follows and is supposedly the song that led to the creation of Past Life Romeo. Djadja has claimed on Instagram it’s their favourite on the EP. Their simple but honest style of storytelling is perhaps most evident here with lines such as “now I bike to the beach on semi sunny days listening to The Streets and crying out the pain, finding shared interests with people I have no interest for, just to share saliva with strangers I met on the internet”. The art direction for this track (in particular the music video directed by Lola Margrain) is stunning, like a cyber sigilism inspired fairytale set inside the Matrix. They seem to potentially be pulling from hyperpop legends 100 Gecs.
We’ve previously covered the next track ‘Drew a heart <3’ but it’s potentially the strongest part of the EP with certain aspects reminiscent of Yung Lean or even Drain Gang. Djadja describes it as being about “falling in love and having crushes and making out in my mom’s car while listening to My Bloody Valentine”.
Parkingstone closes out this story-driven EP about turbulent relationships, as they said to Vents back in February, “it’s about growing up, navigating your early twenties, and finding a sense of identity. It’s about queerness and gender too”. This song is softer than the last couple, featuring gentle instrumentals and (as Djdja told La Vague Parallele) shoegaze guitars. It sounds like pages from a diary, as Djadja confesses both their and their lover’s wrongdoings but also their deep love for each other.
If you’re in France this summer, catch them playing Rock en Seine alongside Nell Mescal, Rachel Chinouriri, Bar Italia, and many more!
