Story / Sloane Polhemus Photos / Gabriel Perez Silva Syling / Elena Lark
DeathbyRomy’s new single “Body Horror” is as raw, cathartic, and visceral as the title suggests. The first release from an upcoming album, “Body Horror” represents Romy kicking off a striking new chapter in her music: something dark, powerful, and self-reflective that turns vulnerability into a weapon.
Romy writes: “Every girl understands this song and what it means, and that’s the problem.” With a hypnotic balance of pop immediacy and graphic storytelling, the track frames girlhood as a horror story — with Romy using her intense vocal presence to explore how women are all too often exploited and sexualized in their youth. “Body Horror” brings together gritty, mechanical rhythm and ruthlessly personal lyrics to create a soundscape both addictive and unsettling.
“‘Body Horror’ is probably the most deeply personal and emotional song I’ve put out in a while,” Romy said. “It’s about the coming-of-age realization that I had around 20 or 21 where I was like, ‘Wow, this whole world has conditioned me to play the part of what’s flattering and desirable to men. I’m meant to be desirable, but if I give myself up too much, then I’m no longer deemed desirable. I’m meant to be something for them to take.’”
These themes of objectification and coercion to perform for the male gaze echo throughout the haunting lyrics of “Body Horror,” culminating in an evocative and immediately infectious chorus: “God made me to be adored / You want me for yourself while I bleed out on the floor / I’ll rot and leave a pretty corpse / Only here to use, tell me what my body’s for / Call that body horror.”
“Body Horror” draws heavily from Romy’s experiences navigating the music industry at a young age after dropping out of high school; she described the track as “a theme song for my years in hell (being a teenage girl).”
“I’ve found myself writing mostly about experiences I had between the ages of 15 to 17, and my reflection on that time in my life from this newfound perspective that I have as a 26-year-old woman,” Romy said. “It touches on some deeply personal moments, like being taken advantage of when I was younger, and coming to terms with where I find my power in terms of my representation of my sensuality and my confidence — and wanting to reclaim that in a world that’s not as open to that as we all still wish and people want to say.”
Many listeners connected deeply with how the song portrayed the horror of female existence and the fight to reclaim bodily autonomy.
“It’s very important for me to create that space with my music,” Romy said. “I find that as an artist, to have a platform is a gift and a blessing. I’m very firm in believing the platform should be used to showcase things that really matter to me, and things I care to share with other young girls who might be listening, or other women who maybe still are battling with similar things that aren’t spoken about enough. I’d rather speak out about things that matter regardless of if they’re uncomfortable for others. This song is about breaking out of that. This song is for the girls.”
The themes of “Body Horror” carry into the song’s striking music video, which casts Romy as a ballerina wind-up doll: restrained and operated on by doctors, institutionalized in a padded room, and ultimately reclaiming her girlhood by taking revenge on those who hurt her. Self-expression and visual storytelling have always been central to DeathbyRomy, and “Body Horror” is no exception. The video was born from Romy’s own vision; she conceptualized and creatively directed the project, collaborating with stylist Elena Lark. Drawing inspiration from Lady Gaga’s “Marry the Night” video, the animated psychological horror film Perfect Blue, and the ballet thriller Black Swan, the video channels the song’s sonic intensity into a surreal cinematic world.
The video is also one of Romy’s first projects to incorporate choreography, which she said became an important part of reclaiming confidence in herself as both a performer and an individual. “I’ve really been trying to explore music that makes me feel like dancing,” she said. “I’ve been trying to make music that feels good to move to for myself.” “Body Horror” signals a stylistic evolution in DeathbyRomy’s sound. Alongside previous single “BDSM,” the track blends dark, industrial pop elements and danceable, pulsing beats with Romy’s sharper edge. Romy described her sound as “if Lady Gaga and Nine Inch Nails had a
love child.”
“I feel like for years, I was trying to discover my sound, what I resonated with, and what sounds and genres I enjoyed blending,” Romy said. “Certain aspects of a lot of my favorite genres have stuck and become what I believe to be the sound of DeathbyRomy — from the 808s or trap drums, which have always been in my music from its inception, to strings, violins, and more eerie orchestral elements. Recently I’ve really been exploring what pop is to me, and what I wish could be popular. I want my music and my lyrics and everything I stand for to reach more people, because I know and believe what I’m doing really matters. I’m really trying to explore, ‘what does pop mean to DeathbyRomy?’”
With its dancier sound and self-reflective lyrics, “Body Horror” sets the tone for DeathbyRomy’s upcoming album. Though still in the process of being written, Romy described the album’s main through-line as: “Girlhood. The good, the bad, and the ugly.”
“This whole album is a reflection on experiences and feelings that I had as a teenager,”Romy said. “Exploring, like, my first-found memories that I have connected to both my confidence and sensuality. The exhilarating feeling you get when you have a crush or when you’re falling for someone, and the heaviness of your first heartbreak.” The process of crafting the album and reflecting on past experiences has been impactful for Romy, who described writing music as something that “kind of works as another form of therapy for me.”
“I went through a breakup not so long ago, and I think that reminded me to really check back in with myself and with Romy, and what my needs are, what I want for myself, what I do and don’t want to be a part of my life and my personal and intimate spaces,” she said. “That breakup kind of encouraged me to want to go back and reminisce on a lot of the things that helped shape me and who I am as a woman. It’s been very cathartic, and it felt very important to come back to myself and write about my female experience.”
Alongside the album, Romy is gearing up for a packed summer of live shows, including a European headline run, dates opening for Limp Bizkit, and appearances at multiple Warped Tour locations. A critical part of DeathbyRomy’s live performance is the visual identity she builds around her music — and she plans to bring the haunting aesthetic of “Body Horror” to life at her upcoming shows.
“For this next era, I want it to touch on things that are both more feminine and more creepy at once,” Romy said. “I think we’ll see some of the themes from ‘Body Horror’ bleeding into the tour looks. I was really inspired by the whole world we created in that video.” Between her upcoming single “Manic Dream,” a stacked touring schedule, and the release of a new album on the horizon, DeathbyRomy is stepping into what promises to be her most distinct and uncompromising chapter yet. “Body Horror” sets the tone for what’s coming next: a personal, unflinching portrayal of girlhood that refuses to back down.
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