Planningtorock has teamed up with Romy of The xx for a new version of “The One,” revisiting a track that first appeared on Planningtorock’s 2011 album “W.” The release brings a fresh focus to a song already rooted in feeling, desire and emotional openness.
Rather than presenting the collaboration as a simple update, the new version appears to be framed around intimacy. In comments connected to the release, Planningtorock described how Romy has taken the song’s “original queer longing for love” into “another level of tenderness.” It is a concise description, but one that gives the collaboration its emotional center.
“The One” has now been brought back into the present through a partnership that makes sense on paper without needing much embellishment. Planningtorock’s work has long been associated with identity, transformation and direct emotional address, while Romy’s presence as a member of The xx gives the new version a distinct point of connection for listeners coming from different corners of contemporary pop and electronic music.
The choice to return to a song from “W” is also significant. A track first released in 2011 arrives now in a different cultural and musical moment, where the language around queer desire, tenderness and visibility continues to shift. By revisiting “The One” rather than leaving it fixed in its original era, Planningtorock allows the song to carry its earlier emotional charge while opening it up to another voice.
Romy’s involvement adds a new dimension to that process. The collaboration is not being positioned as a replacement for the original, but as a new reading of it. That distinction matters. Reworking an older song can sometimes feel like a look backward; here, the emphasis is on how the meaning of a track can deepen when another artist steps inside it with care.
The release also arrives with attention on Planningtorock’s upcoming UK shows, which were noted alongside the new version. While the announcement centers on the music itself, the live dates give the moment a broader shape, placing the renewed interest in “The One” within Planningtorock’s current activity rather than treating it as a one-off archival gesture.
What stands out most is the restraint of the news. There is no need for an oversized narrative around the collaboration. The essential facts are strong enough: Planningtorock, Romy, a song from “W,” and a new version that foregrounds queer longing and tenderness. In an era when collaborations are often discussed in terms of scale or spectacle, this one is being introduced through feeling.
For listeners familiar with the original “The One,” the new version offers a chance to hear the song reframed. For those arriving through Romy, it may serve as an entry point into Planningtorock’s earlier work. Either way, the release treats the song as something still alive, capable of being revisited without losing its emotional foundation.
Planningtorock and Romy’s version of “The One” is ultimately a reminder that some songs do not need to be reinvented loudly to feel renewed. Sometimes, a new voice and a shift in tenderness are enough to change the light around them.
