“A sun-kissed exploration of young adulthood,‘Hickey’ is Royel Otis at their most self-assured…back-to-back summer anthems, guaranteed to bring a feel-good vibe to any occasion”
**** NMEToday, Australian duo
Royel Otis share their new album
hickey, out now on OURNESS/Capitol/Island Records, alongside confirming UK dates of their massive ‘meet me in the car’ tour in support of their sophomore record.With 13 songs that traverse the highs and lows of messy young love, the sophomore set’s sound swings between blissful and wistful, blending together slack indie rock, jangly new wave, and swooning dream-pop. The LP comes with a music video for
‘who’s your boyfriend’ directed by
Lauren Dunn and featuring
Lola Tung, the star of the hit Amazon Prime series
The Summer I Turned Pretty. Watch the video
HERE.Cowritten by
Royel Otis (Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic) with
Amy Allen (Sabrina Carpenter, Harry Styles) and producer
Blake Slatkin (Gracie Abrams, Omar Apollo),
‘who’s your boyfriend’ is a romantic new wave dream featuring soaring synth melodies, tumbling drums, and driving guitars. The track finds Royel Otis caught in a friendship with someone who seems to want it both ways, building to the sing-along hook,
“He bailed on your birthday, and you’re calling me up a lot / So, baby, who’s your boyfriend now? While you’re sleeping with him, is it me you’re thinking about?”Bringing it full circle, Royel Otis’ viral cover of the Cranberries 1993 hit
‘Linger’ made it into a recent episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty — watch a clip from the show
HERE.
hickey arrives as the effortlessly infectious lead single ‘moody’ notches a seventh week atop the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart, which made Royel Otis the first new act this year to nab a Triple A crown. The band also recently performed ‘say something’ on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon amid a winning run of festival appearances in the U.S. and abroad including Glastonbury, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, and Japan’s Fuji Rock. They hit Reading and Leeds this past weekend before launching their ‘meet me in the car’ tour, spanning the U.S., Australia, and Europe. UK dates for the tour are announced today, including shows in London, Glasgow and Manchester. See full itinerary below.
About their new album, hickey, Royel Otis had this to share: “Love bites harder than any other
emotion in the world.”
