back to the water below (2023) - royal blood - album review
8.8/10
By O. Jacobs
Back to the Water Below (2023)
Royal Blood [since their self-titled breakout debut in 2014] have for the most part stayed extremely loyal to their identifying sound with an almost assassin-like level of precision. Their first two records acted as near siblings of sonics with each other, but stepping aside in 2021 to let the release of Typhoons dance-rock its way into the conversation.
If Typhoons set the precedent that Royal Blood was not only able to expand and experiment with their sound while staying true to their identity, [and make it critically successful] then Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher exponentially utilized that potential while manufacturing their masterpiece Back to the Water Below.
Photo: Tom Beard
Without wasting a minute, a beat, or a bass-line, the power-duo figured out [yet again] how to make a small runtime [31min] feel roomy and gigantic. A track like “Tell Me When It’s Too Late” practically shakes the foundation of whatever room it enters. (I was so happy to get the live debut of this song in Philly, 2023).
“Pull Me Through” is a fantastic single alongside chart partner: “Mountains at Midnight”, but they barely reach the depth of emotion this album succeeds in conveying within the moments of “The Firing Line”, “There Goes My Cool”, and the mega-ton tsunami of fear and uncertainty that lies inside of “Waves” the tenth and final track on the album.
Pictured - [left] Ben Thatcher [right] Mike Kerr
The environmental tone here is muggy, not the instrumentals… They’re polished, beefy, brutish and steely as always, it’s the emotionality that shines in this record. Royal Blood manages to create a work that showcases tracks each with their own personality, [lots of amped-up regret and melancholy] but still taking steps forward in their career and songwriting ability, even while getting their hands dirtier and dirtier.
Royal Blood has only gotten better with time, and we’ll see if that virtue is still on their side when we roundtable over their next musical outing. Until then, they remain perfect.
