‘All I Need’ is an anthemic, ‘hopeless romantic’ Pop ballad that paints the inner complexities we face when falling in love. Taylor wrote this song during a session with Auckland based producer Will Henderson, with a heavy nod to his obsession for nostalgic 80’s artists like Prince, Tears For Fears and Chicago and fusing it with his love for modern day Pop and R&B. This is Taylor’s second installment of 2021, following his recent single ‘why can’t we?’.

This song is a self reflection of the inner battles faced upon realization when we’re undoubtedly falling for someone. Taylor wanted ‘All I Need’ to express this not just lyrically, but heavily within the melody. The verses are structured to feel a sort of dark tensension, reflecting the self doubts around ‘do they like me back? Do they feel the same?’ during the early stages of a relationship. This is contrasted with the choruses that explode with an empowering swell of synths and big vocals and guitar, influenced by the idea of just letting guards down and being true to your feelings, because regardless of what they reciprocate, you know that they’re all you need.

All I Need

Taylor Roche further cements his musical roots and retro-Pop aesthetic in his new endeavour ‘Sucker for a Lonely Heart.’ His new single encapsulates a blend of 80s and 90s nostalgia with a heavy nod to influences such as Prince, INXS, Chicago and The Backstreet Boys fused with his love for modern Synth-Pop and R&B from artists like The Weeknd, Troye Sivan and The 1975. 

‘sucker for a lonely heart’ is Taylor’s nostalgic, Retro-Pop statement of 2021. It explores the crushing awareness that the person you’re so emotionally invested in has moved, leaving you in a floating space of romanticising something that’s no longer there, lost in an endless game of chase. Taylor joined forces with Auckland-based Pop and R&B producer Will Henderson in bringing this idea to life in the studio.  Keeping true to Taylor’s retro-Pop aesthetic, they built this track replicating a stack of 80s drums and arpeggiating, analogue synths. These drive heavily into the choruses fused with big vocal doubles that create a space of urgency, letting moments punch through on lines like “is it half-time yet?.” It’s these moments in the song that resonate the feelings of urgency and hysteria anyone would feel in this exact situation that ‘Sucker for a Lonely Heart’ tells.

Sucker for a Lonely Heart

New Zealand based, Taylor Roche returns for his new era with his first installment of 2022 ‘similar feeling’. This release, donned as a fusion of 80s/90s Pop and R&B, further explores the realm of Taylors nostalgic and authentic sound. This song ties on heavy inspiration from 80s/90s artists; INXS and R. Kelly, blended with his love of the sounds from artists like Troye Sivan, Blanks, Joji and The Weeknd. It’s a song that encapsulates the motions of moving on from someone, discovering a ‘similar feeling’ in someone else, but inwardly projecting you haven't truly moved on -  you’re just filling a void with a new person who feels close to what you used to love.  

‘similar feeling’ is the result of a collaborative co-writing session with New Zealand producer/songwriter Joel Jones. The two spent a day at his studio expanding on the lyrical idea of finding that familiar feeling in someone else, while flipping the second half of the song into acknowledging that they too have found someone, a lot similar to you. It’s a journey that dwells on the idea that we sometimes never truly move on, we just search for the comfort of a similar feeling in someone else.

similar feeling

Self-described as a hopeless romantic making songs for other hopeless romantics, the Auckland-based pop/RnB artist returns with
“day&night” a rebellious 80’s synth pop triumph detailing a broken relationship hanging by a thread. 

"day&night" is an ode to navigating the heartbreak of losing someone that wasn’t right for you but also not being able to let go. 

Co-written with Jake Schrodski of LA Women and produced by key collaborator Joel Jones, the single follows “similar feeling” released in April 2022.

day&night

On a social media rise like no other, New Zealand pop artist Taylor Roche has been on an ascending slope thanks to TikTok (now sitting on 73.5k followers and growing by the day). While he’s become better known for his humor and turning audios into viral videos, his latest releases “similar feeling” and “day&night” haven’t gone unnoticed amongst his following.

His upcoming single “lovemesober”, dropping November 18th, is a sequel to the crumbling relationship and mind games told in “day&night” – which saw acclaim from Milky, MusicFeeds and AAA Backstage, as well as playlisting on Fresh Finds US and at #6 on Fresh Finds Pop. Co-written and produced by key collaborator Joel Jones, “lovemesober” is grounded by acoustic guitar and crosses into more indie/pop territory pulling from inspirations like Bazzi and The 1975.

On the making and inspiration behind the song, he says “it’s a song we wrote immediately after ‘day&night’ was released and the story kind of picked up from where that left one off.

It really focuses on the insecurities that are brought on by not knowing if it is love or just disguised by the euphoric nature of a night out.”

lovemesober

"better than home" is a retrospective, indie-pop delight that takes a sonically softer direction than previous releases "day&night" and "lovemesober" (inspired by the likes of Bazzi, Troye Sivan and Jeremy Zucker) and continues the collaborative partnership between himself and Auckland-based producer Joel Jones. Reflecting on the feeling of being stuck in one place for too long, “better than home” is inspired by the desire to be anywhere else than home. 

On the song Taylor says; “When the world opened back up in 2022, I was desperate to leave again as it felt like everyone around me was going off and chasing their dreams. It triggered an insecure attachment to the idea that I wanted to be something more than what I was, in my career and in life. Writing this song sort of released me from those thoughts.”

better than home

Gaining traction at a remarkable speed with over 135k followers and over 20M likes on TikTok, indie-pop artist turned online personality Taylor Roche has perfected his own viral formula, with music at the core of every piece of content he makes. "costume party", releasing September 22nd, is a vulnerable and introspective track that discusses our flawed human instinct to compare ourselves and our success to other people.

Sonically inspired by the likes of Role Model and Troye Sivan, the single follows "better than home", released in April of this year, and adds to the string of stories that make up Taylor Roche's diary entries of life since lockdown. "I was actually listening to a song called "hiccup" by a really cool  Canadian band called Valley, and "costume party" is in the lyrics. I kind of latched on to that idea as a metaphor and brought it into the studio the next day."

costume party

Crank That Soulja Boy (Taylor's Version)

"be ready to grab a gal or guy to slow dance with as This Love Song sets the mood with its beautiful instrumentation and soft harmonies.

The song covers themes of heartbreak and romance as it explores the emotions of vulnerability felt by someone who is experiencing a sudden breakup. At the same time, it reminisces over the memories of special moments spent together '...and now I'm thinking 'bout, that weekend when, you first held my hand.'"

This Love Song

Unlike a common breakup song, OVER IT is an upbeat, dream Pop tune that explores the journey of a romance intending to start as a ‘fling’ but becoming a bit more, before abruptly ending via a text message. No one likes to receive the text that “I’m over it”, especially if you were never really together in the first place. Taylor, caught in this situation last year, originally wrote OVER IT as a slow song, but realising the ‘I told so’ theme of the situation, decided not to take himself too seriously, rather he switched the vibe to an upbeat tune that recognises the heartbreak but seeks to give listeners the urge to dance around the room, almost like a celebration but with nothing but a broken heart, miscommunicated feelings and a bopping chorus “I’ve never been so wrong, why the change in heart?”.

OVER IT

'Never Like That' ​came about during a late night demo making session last year. It was 1am and Taylor had just finished a set with his band on a ship in Mexico - just prior to his set, he had fallen out of a relationship with a girl on the other side of the world. Sitting in his cabin with a keyboard, rode mic, notebook and his computer, Taylor started writing and recording down his feelings. The first idea that surfaced was the emphasis on the “you were never like that” chorus inspired by change we have in response to a breakup. The song explores the concept of how some people can completely change their personality and surround themselves with people they once never associated with, as a form of escape from the pain they feel inside after falling out with someone they once/still loved. Giving the lyrics a sense of rhythmic urgency and repetition emphasizing his frustrations and feelings that night in his cabin, the first demo of ​Never Like That ​was made. It was then recorded and co-produced with Auckland-based producer ​Sam Jones ​at ​BigPop s​ tudios in New Zealand and mixed by Auckland-based engineer ​Jacob Rush​ .

Never Like That

Taylor first started writing ​'why can’t we​?' back in 2018 in his friend/producer’s garage while working on a different project. At the time he had been seeing a girl for a while but felt as though he was walking on eggshells with his emotions; almost embarrassed at the idea of telling a girl how he truly felt out of fear that she wouldn’t reciprocate the same feeling. Taylor wrote the line ‘why can’t we?’ at the top of a page in a notebook and listed down thoughts he wished they could say to each other. This list bloomed into lyrics as he sang them at a piano which eventually structured into the single ​'why can’t we?'​ co-produced with Auckland-based producer ​Sam Jones ​and mixed by sound engineer ​Jacob Rush.

In a world so deeply saturated in love, where we’re often caught up in our own anxieties around the ‘right time’ to open up to someone or anticipate judgements we might face when we do in fact let our guards down, it’s often we put our emotions or feelings for someone on a pedestal. Rather than just a break up song or just a love song, ​'why can’t we?'​ is a juxtaposition between the two, with the story being centered around the thoughts of why can’t we just be here in this moment and say what we feel? Let’s just forget the world exists for tonight and if it comes out wrong then let’s just get drunk later, call a taxi home and make up for it? Love is complex and beautiful and Taylor wanted to try to capture that in his latest single.

Taylor Roche

Popular tracks