Read Royal Blood ’Dead Company’ | The Album Story below:
(Click ‘View Fullscreen’ for digital feature or scroll down for text only version)
TEXT ONLY
When you have found a home for yourself on stage, it becomes almost impossible for that feeling to lie dormant. It’s like an itch that is never fully satisfied, a blinking light that never rests. When you’re away from the roar of the crowd, the fizz of the amp, and the rush of adrenaline that courses through your veins when everything flows in perfect tandem, it’s all you can think about. But sometimes you need to learn how to miss the things you love to remember why you fell head over heels with them in the first place.
For Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher, forcing Royal Blood to step back from the place they have called home for over a decade, for as long as they have these past couple of years, was almost a necessary evil. After all, even the fastest of cars needs a break and a service now and then. So at the end of the ‘Back To The Water Below’ run as Summer turned to Autumn back in 2024, they listened to their minds and bodies, and cooled the brakes.
Though in allowing themselves to be Mike and Ben again for at least half a year, a period in which the former became a fiancé, and the latter became a father, before considering what new music would look like, it has rejuvenated them in a way that has put the very reason they started this journey together in the first place back to the front and centre of where they are now.
And that is playing heavy shit.
“I wanted to make sure we were going back in not based on this sense that we should, but that we really like it and really want to do it,” Mike admits.
“There was no vision or concept or idea or plan of what kind of music we were going to make, and there never has been. Let’s get in the room, get through the potentially uncomfortable thing of having nothing, start playing, and see where that takes us.
“But then when we did, we just had the realisation that we haven’t felt genuinely inspired to make really heavy music for nearly a decade, which seemed mental. So, this time around it was coming from a very excitable, real place where I’m just loving playing heavy riffs and shooting for that feeling again.”
The result of that very pure yet ultimately purposeful return is ‘Dead Company’, a collection of songs that feels like a look into what makes up the very core of Royal Blood in the most screaming of colours. Furiously fun, infinitely catchy and wonderfully stark, it’s a record made to make you move. A raw, ragged and rallying display of what it means to follow your instincts.
THE SOUND
Every fire needs a spark to get going. And in the case of getting the flames roaring when it came to figuring out exactly what Royal Blood were working with, it was ‘Swallow The Bomb’ that provided the match. A noodling riff, a caustic vocal and a driving drum beat, it’s a foundation that so many a band has been forged on. A reminder that, even this deep in, the basics will always be the backbone.
Sonically, it also harkens back to the duo’s debut self-titled album, the first of their four UK No. 1s, and feels like a departure from the free-flowing nature of their other releases this decade. But for Mike, it’s always been a case of never properly retracing your steps. It would be easy to do what you did previously again, but where is the thrill in that?
“I think one thing we’ve learned over the years is that however you wrote the last song probably isn’t how you’re going to make the next one. We never want to feel like we are repeating ourselves, because that’s not inspiring and doesn’t feel creative.
“But keeping the intention the same is making everything very high energy and impactful. Of making sure we came into the studio really up for it and buzzing. To make that kind of music, you have to be ready to go. You know, you can’t be in a sleepy, lethargic mood. We’re going to go as hard as possible for like four hours, and then collapse.”
“With Mike and me, we’ve worked together for so long that we know when we’re hitting something that feels good, and it happens quite quickly when you know those kinds of things,” Ben adds.
“You then have to nurture that feeling and work on it, because when we’re playing really fast and really heavy, it’s so much fun you can get carried away. But it’s the song behind it that you need to really focus on and make sure it’s great.”
There’s another aspect to this process that allowed that focus to intensify: taking on more of the production of the record as well. Continuing to work alongside Pete Hutchings, who has been responsible for recording, mixing, and engineering much of the band’s output over the years, and now taking on a co-producer role, the responsibility of making these songs feel like they should has allowed the pair to really dial in on what makes them tick.
In the case of what was delivered, it was about not actually touching the music all that much. Keeping the energy shared between the two of them firmly in the driving seat.
“I think our approach was to do as little as we could to it,” Mike picks up. “I think it’s so easy to talk about these things, but it’s so difficult actually to do it and practice restraint. The temptation to fix everything is so powerful because the technology is so amazing. You can go in and make it all perfect, and I’m sure back in the day, they would have dreamed of having some of the editing abilities we have now. But I think there’s a sweet spot. You think about people who took photographs on analogue cameras and then bought a digital camera. It’s keeping that old-school mentality, even with the ability to take an infinite number of photos.“
And the result, all of this purpose and restraint, has equated to a record that sounds utterly sensational. From the funk-riddled pomp of ‘Rear View Mirror’ to the pummelling intent of ‘Ten Over Ten’, the free-wheeling ‘Take Em All’ to the pit-spinning majesty of the title track, it’s as pure a manifesto of who and what Royal Blood have always been as you’re ever going to hear.
“It was just all about trusting each other’s instincts,” Mike hammers home. “I think that sort of communication is a result of being in a band for this long. But everything that makes this band what it is is that we both agree it is great. If someone has an idea, you have to try it. Talking about stuff is a bit pointless in music; you have to demonstrate it. We might have times where one of us is unsure, but it’s the resulting agreement that we’re both on the same page about being excited about something where magic lies.”
THE LYRICS
Though so much fun is being had from a musical side, Mike still feels the weight when it comes to lyrical turns in Royal Blood’s output. If he sat down to consider what going to write about, he would feel like he was already painting himself into a corner, defining a body of work before it had even started to take shape.
Much like the other elements of the record, he just followed his instincts. And in the manner in which the songs were forming – powerful, punishing, triumphant in approach – the words that he found himself conjuring followed suit.
“I found there was something very empowering about the music we were writing. I don’t want to say feel good because that feels too light, but it felt like it was equipping me to conquer the difficult things. One of the most amazing things about rock music is that it can be the ultimate pep talk. And these songs, they felt inspiring for life.”
It’s rare, when it comes to the building of the world that inhabits a record, that the actual benefits of the music are at the forefront. But at a time when it is more important than ever to use what you love to your advantage in facing the everyday, considering the impact that rock music as a whole has on you is a fascinating position to be in.
Because all of our infatuations started somewhere, be it the rallying calls of AC/DC or the towering power of Metallica, or even stumbling upon Royal Blood themselves, everyone has a place where their relationship with this music started. And it started because it made you feel something.
In getting back on the horse after forcing themselves to step away, it would be understandable if there was a fear laced in what Mike and Ben were attempting to build. The feeling of nothing at all setting in. But the reality is that you have to make peace with that as a possibility, but you have to try if you ever want to be sure.
It’s that ebb and flow that fuels every part of what Royal Blood is, and without it, things would be stationary, but not in a good way.
“There would have been a time when I would have been anxious because we’re not making anything,” Mike admits. “It would have felt unproductive. But this record proved to me that there’s something very productive about stepping away. The reason we made such a high-energy record is that we had this time to rejuvenate.
“And there might be a day when we rock up, and it feels uninspiring or not right, but it’s about giving yourself permission to find that out.”
THE ARTWORK & TITLE
In the same way the energy of music flowed into the lyrics of ‘Dead Company’, the stream then found its way into the images that the duo felt should accompany these songs.
And that is where the tiger comes in.
Powerful, foreboding, but beautiful nonetheless, it was the first image to come to Mike Lithgoe’s mind when Mike and Ben looked once again to him to immortalise their art. Though it almost felt too easy, the duo once again considered how the rest of the record had come together, and how not thinking too much had already reaped the highest of rewards.
Though the image of a tiger is something that has stuck with the band long before it was proposed for the cover of this particular record, for Mike, it has always bubbled around his mind, and for a very good reason.
“We’ve always been looking for that thing that represents how we sound,” he states. “The image has always been there in the same way as the title ‘Dead Company.’ It was just being used as a placeholder because Mike knew that it was going to be the opening track. But then we just became so used to seeing that image with that title, and in the spirit of not overthinking things, it felt right, because it definitely didn’t feel wrong. So, let’s roll with it. It feels good, so why not?”
It’s a testament to instinct, which has painted itself into every crack of the record. Of that ancient wisdom that your heart knows what it wants and will always stick to it. And at a time when it is easy to add every bell and whistle to anything that you own, ultimately weighing it down, doing what feels right is almost a radical move.
But when you have already done the hard work, and that is still being here after a decade, sticking to your guns is actually the best thing you can do.
“We’re just stoked to be here,” Mike laughs. “On our first record, we didn’t have any expectation that this was going to last. We just thought, ‘If we’re gonna be a flash in the pan, let’s burn out in style’.
“So, we were surprised that we were able to keep going. So as we go from one album to the next, we make sure it is always coming from a place of inspiration.
“And with this record, by not overthinking and letting go of as much control as you can handle, It’s allowed us just to make sure that when we play together, it feels good. That ethos has been the thing that we’ve held on to throughout the whole process.”
THE FUTURE
Though the creation of ‘Dead Company’ has cemented the fact that Royal Blood still know how to be completely themselves whilst creating music, what they have craved most in the aftermath is stepping on those stages again. Having shows on the calendar, feeling the rush of visiting new and familiar cities, and making people’s days by being there in front of them. There is no rush quite like it.
And as they look to the near future, it is all about enjoying every second spent doing what they do best.
“I’m just excited to be still doing it, man, and still have the urge and want to do it,” Ben exclaims.
“Every time you go back out there, you understand a bit more about where you are and why you do what you do. And it’s really great that we get to travel, play music, and have a good life, have a good time together. And knowing that you’re meant to be there, and that people want you to be there and are excited to see you, is always a great feeling.”
But more than anything, it is remembering that rock music has allowed them to get here. The first love, the endless love, that good old-fashioned rock and roll. Its power remains as infinite as when it was first forged, and Mike and Ben are in no hurry to let it diminish on their watches.
“I know it’s a cliché, but we are standing on the shoulders of giants,” Mike concludes. “The road that’s been carved for us is massive. I don’t know any other genre that would want to follow AC/DC or Led Zeppelin, but we will always enjoy the challenge.“
The post Royal Blood ‘Dead Company’ | The Album Story appeared first on Rock Sound.