Love, loss, and a few laughs – Royel Otis open up about the heart, humor, and humanity fueling their second studio album, ‘hickey,’ just hours before their Lollapalooza set.
Stream: “say something” – Royel Otis
Two is the magic number for Australian music duo, Royel Otis –
– in terms of each other, and in relation to their sophomore album, hickey. Their partnership sparks a destined chemistry between the two, one that shines through their music and live performances. Without Royel (Pavlovic) there is no Otis (Maddell), and without Otis there is no Royel. The pair simply belong next to the other, and have, over the course of the past six years, grown into a dynamic duo that is taking the world by storm.
The band’s anticipated second record, hickey, is on its way (due out August 22nd), ready to deliver a bittersweet monologue about love, goodbyes, and everything in-between.
When discussing the thought process behind this title, they explain, “because love bites harder than any other emotion in the world.”
Love leaves its mark, just as a hickey does. Even though hickeys bruise, they do heal over time. Whether that’s referring to temporary love, or short-term pain, it takes an emotional toll on the heart, which processes hurt and adoration deeply. There’s such symbolism in this title – from the profound emotions it represents, to the implications of leaving the ones you love.
The album’s three promotional singles give fans a sneak peek into Royel Otis’ evolving artistry while exploring these topics as well. Their first single, “moody,” was described to be a song about a girl. “car,” the second single, is best captured as a song about goodbyes. The recently released “say something” is a song about unspoken words.
As they embark on this exciting new chapter of their career, Royel Otis brought their energy to the stage through a combination of new, old, and beloved tracks. The duo played snippets from the new album at their Lollapalooza show, alongside covers and past hits.
Atwood Magazine had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Royel Otis about their upcoming release just hours before they hit Lollapalooza’s Lakeshore stage.
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:: stream/purchase Hickey here ::
:: connect with Royel Otis here ::
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Stream: “moody” – Royel Otis
A CONVERSATION WITH ROYEL OTIS
Atwood Magazine: The two of you are a creative powerhouse, how do you plan to channel this energy into your Lollapalooza set today? Will you be playing any unreleased songs from the upcoming album?
Royel Pavlovic: Lots of energy, a lot of jetlag, and four new songs, one unreleased song.
Otis Maddell: We’re playing an unreleased song called “who’s your boyfriend.”
You’ve been very open about the themes of your last three singles. What other topics does the album touch on?
Otis: Mostly love and burgers as well.
Royel: I’d say a lot of love and having to let go of things because we’ve been on tour for so long. You don’t see much of your family, so a lot of missing and longing for your family, your friends, and your loved ones.
What is tour life like for you guys?
Otis: It’s like a rollercoaster, yeah it’s good. Up and down, tired, exciting a lot. It’s cool, it’s amazing to see new places.
Royel: It is a rollercoaster and you just learn how to live completely in each other’s pockets or with a team. You need a really good team, I love touring it just needs to be managed well. We have a great team, so it’s good if that’s the case.
For each single, you’ve provided a prompted description. To give an example, when talking about your song “car” you said, “This is a song about goodbyes.” If you had to do the same for the album, what would it best be described as?
Otis: This is a bunch of songs about goodbyes.
“say something” is a song about unspoken words. If you could go back in time and change the past, would you? How has your past pain shaped who you’ve become today?
Otis: Then everything would probably be too perfect. So no, I wouldn’t change the past, maybe some things.
Royel: I don’t know, there wouldn’t be the challenges. If you could go back, you could always fix the challenges. If there’s no challenges, there’s no reward. I wouldn’t go back and change anything; I’ll do it all again.
Now that you’re closer to the album release date, and have debuted three singles, how are you feeling about dropping your second LP?
Otis: Honestly, good. There’s some songs in there that I think are cool and a bit different.
Royel: I just want it to get out there, and hear what people think about it and hear what their favorites are. I’m excited for this LP, can’t wait to get into the studio once we have time to record more. But I can’t wait to hear what people think about it, it’s a bit different.
Are there any songs you are specifically excited for fans to listen to?
Otis: “dancing with myself.”
Royel: “dancing with myself” is definitely up there, we worked on that with Josh and Lydia from Jungle. “shut up” is another one that Otis came into the studio with. We worked on that with just Josh I think, from Jungle. Also, all the songs we did with Blake Slatkin and Omer Fedi. We’ve worked with so many people, all good friends.
Your music is oftentimes characterized as cinematic, what are your favorite movies?
Otis: One of my favorite comedies is Napoleon Dynamite. Movies are great, I love movies. My all-time favorite film is an Australian classic called The Man from Snowy River.
Royel: I am a huge film buff. I got a lot of my music from films growing up and skating videos that my brother had. I always say that I would love to work in film, as in behind the scenes working on the music in film. Favorite films would be True Romance. I really love True Romance and Princess Mononoke.
Do you draw from movie-like experiences when creating music?
Otis: We have before, with like “Oysters in My Pocket.” There’s a scene in Napoleon Dynamite where he’s pulling Cheetos out of his pocket in class, and that was kind of like “Oysters in My Pocket.” Save it for lunch kind of vibe.
Royel: I’m always inspired by soundtracks on animes, they go from metal to peaceful. I love the juxtaposition between that. I draw inspiration for sure.
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:: stream/purchase Hickey here ::
:: connect with Royel Otis here ::
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© Zora Sicher
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