Los Angeles-based butch artist Rio Romeo releases powerful new track “Without You” a soulful, piano-driven ballad with emotionally raw vocals that convey longing and vulnerability in a stripped-down, intimate arrangement.
“Without You” is the third track to be revealed from Rio’s forthcoming debut album Good Grief, which is set for release on July 18 via AWAL. The new music displays Rio’s blossoming songwriting and vocal skills while their genre-fluid songs possess a musical-theater grandness vibrating with a punk vitality. This is what Rio said about “Without You”:
‘Without You’ is one of the heavier songs on the record.
I wrote it about one of my friends who ended up dying in a suicide by cop incident when I was very young. It was an extremely hard thing to process—he was my first boyfriend, and we were friends for many years. Toward the end of his life, both of us were coming into our own identities and figuring out who we were as people, as 16- or 17-year-olds do. This song is a way to honor him, and a way to honor the fact that, although my life ended up moving forward and his didn’t, I think I am with him, fundamentally, in concrete—the 17-year-old inside my body. The world is always changing, and I am always changing, but he’s still exactly the same. That’s so weird—he’ll always be the same person, but that sameness also lives inside me.
With their new album Good Grief, they’re taking stock of their whirlwind last five years, which have included homelessness, cross-country relocations, a new romance, a horrifying accident that resulted in brain and hip injuries—and the support of a fanbase that’s helped them not just survive, but thrive. The idea of finding beauty in the hard times, while not sanding those difficulties down, runs deep throughout the album.
Rio will bring their lauded live show back on the road this fall for a run of headline North American tour dates. Kicking off on October 2, The Good Grief! Tour will stop at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, Los Angeles’ Lodge Room, Chicago’s Chop Shop, Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live, DC’s Songbyrd, Minneapolis’ 7th Street Entry and many more. See below for full tour routing while tickets can be purchased at rioromeo.com/tour.
- Monday, September 29 – Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge
- Thursday, October 2 – Houston, TX – House of Blues – Bronze Peacock
- Friday, October 3 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada
- Sunday, October 5 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade – Purgatory
- Monday, October 6 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
- Tuesday, October 7 – Washington, DC – Songbyrd
- Thursday, October 9 – Philadelphia, PA – Lounge at World Cafe Live
- Friday, October 10 – Boston, MA- The Red Room at Cafe 939
- Sunday, October 12 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
- Tuesday, October 14 – Toronto, ON – Garrison
- Wednesday, October 15 – Detroit, MI – Lager House
- Friday, October 17 – Chicago, IL – Chop Shop
- Sunday, October 19 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
- Thursday, October 23 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
- Saturday, October 25 – Seattle, WA – Chop Suey
- Sunday, October 26 – Portland, OR – Polaris Hall
- Tuesday, October 28 – San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord
- Thursday, October 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room