Californian Namor (aka Roman Shokuri) is one of the Bay Area’s most promising pop artists coming up right now. Influenced by Giorgio Moroder, Mike Dean, Charlie XCX, The Weeknd and Daft Punk, the artist has become known for merging pop, synth, and R&B styles in an his eclectic approach to music. The shining star of Namor’s music has to be his voice, which is blessed with silky-smooth tones and a natural emotiveness.

Now that we’ve given you the brief run down about why you should be excited about Namor, let’s get into his newest release, Mile High Club. The record was never intended to be an official release, in fact it started out as a small-scale project for live performances, but the further that the artist got into its creation, the more he realised that it was too significant not to share. Doubling up as his debut album, Namor entirely wrote and produced Mile High Club, although it was completed with the assistance of Tucker Starbuck, LifeonMarzz, Lea Fromm, and Calypso Carbon. The result is a super diverse listen that incorporates synth-pop, electronica and dance. You might note the sweeping middle-eastern influences (inherited from Namor’s cultural background), classic dance flour-on-the-floor drum patterns, stirring chord progressions, or the hyperpop breakbeats.

Mile High Club is such an impressive first album from Namor and we sincerely hope this isn’t the last we hear from him this year.

“This record started off as a small-scale album to be made solely for live performance in clubs, and it slowly became a very endearing art piece as the concept developed into a story with characters reflecting my own relationship experiences”

Follow Namor on Instagram.