Retro electronics and a frequently driving rhythm section shape the aesthetic of this English dream pop trio, whose textures at times recall the earlier work of Galaxie 500 and Broadcast. Their debut album, The World Within Our Bedrooms, drew partial inspiration from the suburban Hampshire locale of Fleet—the same setting that shaped the Clientele’s formative recordings—and appeared on Fiction, a Universal Music subsidiary, in 2021.
Longtime friends Jonny Gilbert and Charlie Henderson, still teenagers, posted a notice seeking a bass player on the board at their college in Farnborough; Sarah Downie answered the call. Though she had never played bass and her inexperience showed during the tryout, her vocal ability surpassed that of both Gilbert and Henderson. The trio therefore assigned Downie to vocals and keyboards, placed Gilbert behind the drums, and shifted Henderson to bass. Initial shows in Guildford and Aldershot drew little response from local listeners, prompting the group to book midweek performances at Brixton’s Windmill in London, where a more sympathetic crowd gathered. Regular appearances eventually attracted Fiction’s interest, leading to the October 2019 release of their meditative debut single, “Now You’re Moving.”
By early 2020 the three members had relocated to London and joined the Heavenly label’s the Orielles on tour. That year also brought three additional singles from Drug Store Romeos, among them “Quotations for Locations,” whose lyrics Downie assembled via William Burroughs’ cut-and-paste technique. The lushly produced “What’s on Your Mind” opened their 2021 output and was followed in May by “Secret Plan”; both tracks featured on The World Within Our Bedrooms, issued two months afterward.
