New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Last week Friday, Toronto R&B artist Roy Woods returned with the new love song "Touch You" on OVO Sound. Continuing his musical resurgence, Woods unveils the "Touch You" video echoing the song's sentiment of longing for a distant lover. Premiered via COMPLEX, the intimate visual follows Roy as he is determined to stay connected to a love interest despite the seemingly unending separation brought on by the pandemic. From talking on FaceTime to relaxing on the beach, the visual is a cinematic fantasy that is all too real. Roy says of the song:
"This song is important because of how relatable it is. We are all still dealing with the effects of the pandemic, whether you are still living in lockdown like in Toronto, or you are experiencing the aftermath of the shift in culture that took place as a result. Covid-19 has affected us all. I wanted to create a song that shed light on this so none of us felt alone in trying to get through it."
As one of OVO's young stars, Roy Woods has taken his music to such great heights with over 2 billion streams to date. "Touch You" arrives as he readies his new body of work coming later this year.
Roy Woods is a shapeshifter. The Brampton, Ontario, native's music has never been just one thing, but as he's released more hit records, he's been able to fuse even more new sounds and styles to his lovelorn R&B. Since signing to Drake's OVO Sound in 2015, he's darted between brash rap tracks, low-key dancehall (a nod to his Guyanese heritage and his Toronto roots), and even gleaming pop. This willingness to experiment is the basis for Woods' new single "Touch You," a melodic charmer promising a summertime escape.
The track teases Woods' latest left turn, a new era of R&B-driven songs that aim to deepen and expand the artist's introspective take on love. As the 25-year-old puts it, "I'm coming from a more mature and open place." This new phase continues a period of growth that began with last May's Dem Times, an EP about the unpredictable nature of life. But even as he's released more sensitive music, Woods has, of course, explored other sounds too, like January 2020's rugged "Shot Again" and the 2019 club anthem "Bubbly," which accumulated nearly 10 million streams. Woods has demonstrated his boundary-pushing approach to R&B since he released his 2015 debut Exis, which peaked at #10 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums Chart. His work has connected with fans too-he now has over 1.8 billion streams across platforms and 1 million Instagram followers. It's all the result of being unafraid to push himself. For Woods, nothing is off-limits.
