Track of the Day: ROE “Down Days” (2019) is the anthem for mental health we all need to hear

Irish artist ROE first came across our radar at Primavera Sound last year; an exciting new voice who is proving herself to be a strong songwriter and a great performer – jumping between a multitude of instruments with so much skill Tash Sultana may just blush.

Over the past month or so, she’s hit the road in the UK with Snow Patrol, playing massive Arenas and Stadiums around the country. Off the back of that, she’s released a beautiful new single “Down Days”, which is our Track of the Day. The song shows ROE developing beautifully as a songwriter, while the production is also taken up to another level. And with a year of non-stop touring behind her – that took her as far as the NH7 Festival in India at the end of last year – it’s of little surprise that the quality of her output is rapidly improving.

Behind the track is an important message around mental health, that it’s OK to not be OK,  with the chorus exclaiming “I have my down days, every so often / and it feels like I’m falling now, but I’ll get up again / and I know I can’t explain the way I’m feeling, that’s an issue / but I have my down days, as much as anyone”. These powerful lyrics are sung with a powerful voice, and sit against the backdrop of growing production; starting with a simple piano beat, building to a climax of synth and bass, before breaking it all away again.

Listen to the track here:

You can also watch her playing it live here in front of tens of thousands in Wembley Arena supporting Snow Patrol:

For more about the artist, head to her official Facebook page. And if you’re heading to SXSW next month, don’t miss your chance to see the rising star in action.

Photo by Dennis Dirksen.

Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.