Roxanne de Bastion returns with ‘Simple Pleasures’, her first new solo material since 2021’s You & Me, We Are The Same. It lands like a proper gear change, pushing away from the emotional heaviness of recent years and heading somewhere rougher, louder and built to hit fast.
Part of what gives this return its edge is the contrast with the work Roxanne de Bastion has thrown herself into since that last solo album. Since then, she has released The Piano Player Of Budapest, a project rooted in family history, loss and survival, alongside restored recordings of her late grandfather’s songs. ‘Simple Pleasures’ feels like the point where she exhales after all of that. Not by turning lightweight, but by turning up the voltage.
A harder-edged return with grit and release
There is more going on in ‘Simple Pleasures’ than pure release, though. Roxanne de Bastion turns her gaze outward here, using the song to toy with what it means to stay human in a hyper-commercialised world drifting closer to automation, novelty and AI logic. The lyrics sharpen that idea nicely. Lines like ‘Come and check out all the new features’ and ‘Simple pleasures for simple creatures’ turn the language of upgrades and marketing into something knowingly creepy, as if everyday desire is being repackaged and sold straight back to us.
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The sound fits that turn well. Driving synths, angular guitar riffs, live drums and a beat built to move all give ‘Simple Pleasures’ a much more physical charge than her recent work, while the St Vincent and Beck touchpoints point towards something wiry, sharp and just a little unruly. Roxanne de Bastion has always had incisive writing. Here, she is pushing it through distortion and momentum instead.
That same tension runs through the details of the lyric too. ‘The future is bright in stainless steel’ is funny, cold and faintly bleak all at once, which feels like the whole point of the song in miniature. Even phrases like ‘special deal’ and ‘upgrade’ keep nudging the track away from straightforward electro-rock swagger and into something more satirical. It has a pulse, but it is side-eyeing the world while it moves.
Steph Marziano looks like a smart producer for that move, and the rest of the credits help fill the picture in. Jay Chakravorty handles guitars and synths, Marziano also takes drums and programming, with Matt Wiggins on mixing and Kris Harris on mastering. That lineup suits a single built on snap, texture and a slightly futuristic gleam. It also helps explain why the song feels so lean and immediate.
With more music said to be on the way, ‘Simple Pleasures’ works well as a first glimpse of a broader shift, one that still sounds recognisably like Roxanne de Bastion while refusing to stay boxed inside old expectations. It is louder, yes, but it is also more outward-looking, more playful and more willing to let the mess show.
‘Simple Pleasures’ Review
I like this kind of return. ‘Simple Pleasures’ does not creep back in politely. It goes straight for impact. The thing I enjoy most here is the bite in the writing. Roxanne de Bastion is not only going louder, she is widening the target, and the lyric gives the song more to do than simply swagger. ‘Simple pleasures for simple creatures’ is such a good hook because it sounds catchy first and unsettling a second later.
It also helps that the whole thing does not read like a random lurch into loudness for the sake of it. The distortion, synth drive and angular riffs all feel tied to the song’s argument about convenience, consumption and how easily people get softened up by shiny promises. For me, that makes ‘Simple Pleasures’ feel like a very smart comeback single. It grabs hold quickly, leaves a mark, and has a bit more on its mind than a standard noisy reset.
You can pre-save ‘Simple Pleasures’ here and follow Roxanne de Bastion on Instagram.
