Album Review: Royal Blood - 'How Did We Get So Dark?'

There are very few things that get me excited. A freshly shaven leg? A heated episode of Question Time? Dwayne The Rock Johnson? Nah mate. The powerhouse duo of Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher. That’s something to get excited about. Royal Blood are back at it again with a smack-mouth powerhouse, ‘How Did We Get So Dark’, the second studio album from the Brighton boys, recorded and produced at Warner Bros Studios.

The boys have gone back to school on this one. No silly tricks, no added features. Simply them, big riffs, even big choruses and that signature sound that oozes that sexual Queens of The Stone Age sound along with that mysterious filthy bass. They’ve certainly put a bit of a lid on the majority of their songs. ‘Don’t Tell’ feels like it’s been on the grinder for a year. Should’ve been a massive song but feels almost foamy. Don’t worry. If the whole album reflected this, I’d throw it out the window. We’re still gifted with that classic Royal Blood noise in songs like, ‘I Only Lie When I Love You’, and, ‘Sleep’. However, it does beg the question – Are the boys out of ideas or are they right to stick to their guns?

I think the pair knew that this album had to define them as artists. Album two is always a tricky one. The boys have certainly stuck their middle fingers to the taboo in the only way they know how. With sassy funk, sexual tension and a bombastic amount of cockiness that will solidify their sound for years to come.

I think our’Kid Reece summed this album up perfectly…