Billboard

The Secret Lives of Trees/ CD available at CDBABY & iTunes
you can review our album here:



There is a tension in the Roman(us) mix of nature, passion, artifice and awe that allows the listener pick a new path to explore from spin to spin. There is ambience with a pulse through love songs sung in an unnatural forest that is less a place that a context. This plugged-in dreamscape invokes reverie without going dreamy. It is a sensual environment, perhaps built on the natural math of the Fibonacci numbers, peopled with lovers, trucks, and trees. The re is flesh and blood, fiber, chlorophyll in the thick of circuitry and imagination. There's a contemplative distance from the day to day that gives deeper meaning to the longing for human contact. Comparisons fail here where David Sylvian might be at home, among a fair crowd of dissimilar voices including Tim Buckley, Deep Forest, Secret Stealth, Brian Eno, Enigma, Gato Barbrieri and a towering pine.
Billy Sheehan, Malibu Arts reviews, CA

"the end result comes closer to serving as the score to a very surreal dream than an actual world music album. Think Massive Attack meets Jeff Buckley and maybe you will come close."
Manny Hernandez, BlogCritics Magazine

"..From the opening drizzles of keyboard notes, the album evokes an illustrative haze of introspection. Each instrumental part contributes to an enveloping resonance, and lush vocals drift through the turgid stratosphere of sound."
Matt Kanner, THE WIRE, July 18th 2007
Our myspace page: ROMAN(US)


The debut release, The Secret Lives of Trees, from Roman(us) is an innovative, eclectic and impressively cohesive collection of tracks that leaves listeners feeling deeply satisfied ear to ear, head to toe. This well-balanced team of two has generated 13 mood-inducing tracks; each one distinct and engaging -some pulsing with purpose and very bold and animate; some are more dark and earthy; and some are fluid even vaporous in feel. All have a sound so rich and emotive that it becomes an almost visual experience. This is not a surprising quality coming from two film-loving artists! In fact one of the tracks is included in an artistically motivated documentary, Landscapes in a Truck -a film by Andres Duque. Taking advantage of technology and timing, J and F Roman finally joined forces as ROMAN(US) to bring The Secret Lives of Trees to life.

Partnering Across the Atlantic
This project, and some key advances in technology, provided an opportunity to explore a new and engaging process to create this album remotely. With F in Barcelona, Spain and J here in the US - 'passing' tracks back and forth created a unique dynamic which pushed their spontaneity and creativity to new heights. Other than not physically not being in the same room while working, and the time change, the challenges were surprisingly few, and the excitement stayed high as each wondered what the other would do to each piece in progress! Staying in constant communication was not only necessary for this creative process to work, but was also fun, inspiring, and very satisfying for two cousins who balance each other so well musically, professionally and personally. With J's structured and intimate knowledge of arranging pieces and harmonic and theory concepts -and F's natural talents for melodic mastery -this team of two is a perfect match! This is just the beginning of the electronic excellence to be heard from ROMAN(US).

Growing up and making music.
J and F grew up together in Caracas, Venezuela actively playing together in typical high-school style garage bands for several fun-filled years. With J on drums and F on vocals, and others joining in youthful explorations inspired by various After high school, as is the common right of passage, diverse interests, college careers, individual musical projects and busy lives beckoned -and though always staying in close touch, their joint musical ventures went on an extended hiatus J attending Berklee School of Music and F heading to Barcelona, Spain where he played in a variety of rock bands and began his work in the film industry. J and F had long-wanted to do a project like The Secret Lives of Trees. Until now, the many miles between Portsmouth, NH and Barcelona Spain, along with myriad independent projects and very busy lives were hurdles too big to jump to make this project happen, despite the long-held desire. At long last, their availability and the advancement of (music software and internet) technology has aligned with their passion and ability for working together. The years of conversations about teaming up again to make music along with a little additional inspiration from the RPM Challenge have finally brought them, and us, to this moment. They've done it, and done it well. And it wont stop here -stay tuned for more from ROMAN(US) coming soon.

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  Secret Lives of Trees