Young Romance is the second studio album by German musician and producer Roosevelt, released on 28 September 2018 through City Slang. It includes a guest appearance from American chillwave producer Washed Out on the track "Forgive". It received mixed to positive reviews from critics.
Young Romance received a score of 65 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on six critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[3] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic described it as a "synth-driven exercise in retro-flavored indie dance rock. However, while its predecessor was a neon-washed, digital throbber, Young Romance expands Roosevelt's palette with bright, uplifting anthems similar to Miike Snow, Capital Cities, and Currents-era Tame Impala".[2]Exclaim!'s Luke Pearson wrote that Roosevelt "rais[es] the bar throughout in terms of production and overall tightness, while adding some funk-lite guitar work for good measure as well".[6]
Chase McMullen of The 405 summed it up as "a record that wears its influences plainly on its pulsating sleeves" and "more than pleasant enough to be worth it".[4] Tara Joshi of The Observer opined that the album contains "an airbrushed, off-kilter kind of pop, and while he still isn't pushing the envelope, Young Romance is a pleasant enough listen".[1] Reviewing the album for PopMatters, Pryor Stroud found that "Roosevelt's '80s-indebted yet EDM-inflected confections aren't as anthemic as he wants them to be, but they're almost uniformly infectious".[7] Jess Atkinson of Clash felt that Roosevelt "struggles to innovate" on the album "despite a truly lush display of synth-work and production".[5]
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