IN REVIEW: Royal Blood - "How Did We Get So Dark?"

When you're a young band and you make it big with your debut, especially in the UK, there is a special kind of pressure in approaching what to do next. On one hand, you've got all of these new fans and corporate interests (read: your record label, management, advertising agencies etc.) pleading to stay the course, don't fix what's not broken and ride your momentum all the way to the bank. On the other hand, there's often the temptation on the artists' side to grow the sound, reach for the fringes and fulfill an artistic destiny that couldn't happen the first time out for whatever reason, be it financial limitations, immaturity or otherwise.

So, what of Royal Blood, then? Hailed in certain circles as saviours of rock and derided as pale imitations of superior bands in others, there's a strong case for both sticking with what brought you to the dance and proving to the naysayers that you're more than a derivative amalgam of Death From Above and Queens of the Stone Age.

Where How Did We Get So Dark? lands is closer to the former, but there are subtle progressions; a stray keyboard here, a slinkier groove there, a few more percussive layers added on to their thick and crunchy beats. The bass-led bombast is still in full effect, but a sexed-up romper like She's Creeping or a shimmering hookfest like Look Like You Know hint that there's a desire to take this sound even further away from pure rock satisfaction and into sweaty dance rock territory at some point.

That isn't quite yet though, and by and large Royal Blood serve up more of what got them all of the attention they did. The lead-up singles are home to the kind of hard grooves that you're used to, and damn if they don't hit with the same impact of their previous record's smash hits. Lights Out might not be quite as immediate as, say, Out of the Black, but it's no less effective once it sinks itself into your brain. Ditto the banger Hook, Line & Sinker, whose riff is simple yet so, so juicy. Then, there's surefire stadium electrifier I Only Lie When I Love You, which will be slaying on the festival circuit all summer long.

With that said, perhaps the most obvious change between albums one and two is in the songs themselves; there are hooks everywhere, lessons in crowd pleasing picked up from touring their first record so hard. There are a few less thrilling tracks, suggesting they haven't perfected their formula just yet, but there aren't really any forgettable songs here either. At the end of the day, How Did We Get So Dark? does its job most admirably, guaranteeing satisfaction for fans while offering glimpses into expanded artistic expression in the future. Royal Blood could have easily phoned in a reasonable facsimile of their debut and called it a payday, but this record proves that they don't plan on taking the easiest path, and that's what's most exciting about it.

June 16, 2017 • Black Mammoth/Warner Bros.
Highlights Lights Out • I Only Lie When I Love You • She's Creeping