After a two-year absence from the music world, Royal Blood are back with new single ‘Ten Over Ten’. The first track from their freshly-announced fifth album ‘Dead Company’ made its debut as the ‘Hottest Record’ on BBC Radio 1 this evening, ahead of the group’s UK tour dates later this month.
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The hard rock two-piece of bassist and vocalist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher took a pause after the 10-year anniversary celebrations for their breakthrough self-titled debut album wrapped in 2024. 2014’s ‘Royal Blood’ shot the pair to stardom, topping the British Albums Chart and winning them the BRIT Award for Best British Group – but with their next 3 albums also earning Number One status and their fantastic live shows in ever-increasing demand, they seemingly never stopped.
With over a year passing with no songs, no shows, and not even so much as a social media post, Kerr and Thatcher released a teaser for a new track back in June. The snippet showcased a heavy, thrashy sound akin to their earlier style on ‘Royal Blood’-era singles like ‘Out of the Black’ and ‘Little Monster’. Shortly after the teaser was released, the group announced a run of 3 UK dates for the end of August, visiting Margate, Guildford and Southampton.
New single ‘Ten Over Ten’ was announced on Royal Blood’s Instagram yesterday, and received its premiere tonight as DJ Jack Saunders’ Hottest Record on his BBC Radio 1 show. Indeed the song from the teaser trailer, it opens with Kerr’s signature bass tone, which mimics an electric guitar, and frantic drum beats from Thatcher, before shifting into riffs that border on heavy metal. This is a new kind of aggression for the duo, blasting through the high-tempo verses into the sleazy, blues rock choruses. It’s a refreshing sound for such a popular act, showing that even though they don’t have a guitarist in the conventional sense, guitar music is still alive and well.
Following the radio broadcast of ‘Ten Over Ten’, Royal Blood took to social media to announce their fifth album would be titled ‘Dead Company’ and is due for a November release. Their post reads “After putting the Royal Blood engine in neutral for a couple of years, we’ve been building up the revs and are playing faster and harder than ever with this album. Written and recorded with the stage in mind, we cannot wait to play it live for years to come. Mike & Ben.” They also alluded to further live shows to be announced in time.
‘Ten Over Ten’ is out now, with new album ‘Dead Company’ releasing on November 13 through Warner Records. Pre-orders of the album on their official store will unlock pre-sale access for the unannounced gigs. Up next for Royal Blood are their shows at Dreamland Margate on August 24, G Live in Guildford on August 25, and O2 Guildhall in Southampton on August 27.
