Royal Blood have toured extensively with Queens Of The Stone Age in recent years and become friends with the band. Homme may have only produced one track on the album - the feral centrepiece Boilermaker - but evidence of the enigmatic musician's influence pervades the record. "So I felt great, but all I had to really talk about was where I had come from, so that was why the lyrics are f***** up and the music is party time." "I feel like I had come out of some really dark times. "The state I was in when I was writing this, I was in a very euphoric, feel-good place in my life. "I'm horrible at making up songs about nothing. "But in all honesty, I have never been able to write a song about someone I have never met in a place I have never been.
"I guess it is easy to use the feel-good music as something of a mask," he reflects. While the music of Typhoons is dynamic, playful, sometimes even uplifting, Kerr's lyrics tackle his lowest lows. "In most other industries you would get caught a lot quicker." "It is very easy to be falling apart and live an unmanageable lifestyle if you are the lead singer of a rock band," he says with a laugh and a hint of incredulity. The fact he was able to "function" both on and off stage in spite of his drinking only made the situation worse. The recording of the album was framed by Kerr's journey to sobriety.ĭuring sessions for their 2017 sophomore album, How Did We Get So Dark?, he sank into a malaise, encouraged by the hard-living demands of being a touring musician. "The main vision that Ben and I share is always about the songs really. We just got more confident as we were making it because the songs felt so good. "For us, it takes very little to have any reinvention. "On paper it's not particularly different. "It opened up a portal into a new world," he recalls.
Receive today's headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening, with our free daily newsletter.Įnter email address This field is required Sign UpĪlbum opener Trouble's Coming was one of those moments. "It just took a couple of songs to sail off into the sunset without capsizing."ĭaily Headlines & Evening Telegraph Newsletter "I don't think we really found our mojo until we got where we are at. "Before we found this direction and had this vision, things just felt stale," Kerr says of the past few years. The duo instead incorporated the sound of the Bee Gees and Daft Punk, all while retaining the bite of Led Zeppelin. Typhoons, their third album, is the first time Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher have truly looked outside the bass-drums-vocal template that has sustained them since forming in Brighton in 2011. Now, some 15 years later, the singer and bassist is embracing the kitsch and drama of disco in Royal Blood, the volcanic rock duo who have earned two number one albums and a clutch of industry awards.Ī number of factors have been behind this left turn - his decision to go sober, the positive influence of lockdown and of close friend Josh Homme, of Queens Of The Stone Age. Royal Blood’s new sound tingles with the excitement of a new direction the band appears to be turning toward.Mike Kerr is remembering how, aged around 15, he performed with his then-band Hunting The Minotaur covered in gold paint in the style of Goldfinger, wearing a faux fur coat with a keytar strapped to his chest. Typhoons may baffle fans with the first few listens, but eventually become a favorite. The two songs merge completely and are sonically almost indistinguishable, making the end of the album as cosmic and musically pleasing as possible.
The final two tracks, “Mad Visions” and “Hold On,” act as the perfect hype anthems to soundtrack anyone’s “walk like a badass” playlist, with Thatcher’s drum parts driving the songs to an equally marching and danceable beat. The end of the song crescendos into an orgasmic explosion, leaving a syrupy sweet musical taste on your tongue. The influence of Queens of the Stone Age production on “Boilermaker” is clear enough to be heard from a mile away, with the opening riff being almost identical to the California rockers’ “The Way You Used To Do.” Luckily for the English lads, this track takes everything that worked from the Josh Homme 2017 classic and builds on it in every possible way. This image is, however, revitalized with “Boilermaker,” a track that’s become a Royal Blood fan favorite since the duo debuted at England’s Reading Festival in 2019. Fans of Royal Blood may be disappointed with the lighter tracks that take a softer direction, such as “You Got It,” tarnishing the band’s “rock and roll savior” image that Kerr and Thatcher have found themselves brandishing in the past decade.