I'm sure you know who the Royal Blood are, a Brighton-based duo formed by Mike Kerr and Ben Tratcher and now on their third album, following a stellar debut and a less successful follow-up (at least in my opinion) How did it get so dark?
The music of this new album, titled Typhoons (which has a beautiful cover, I have to admit), I can assure you, does not appeal to me. For my tastes, there is just too much electronica, as well as a production that is far too intrusive and lacking in rock for my taste. I'm not sure if this may sound weird to you, but I see a lot of parallels with the most recent course offered by the Muse, which I reviewed with a few sparse words and then abandoned. But, whereas I was put to death by Bellamy's band (because of the numerous things that have caused me to fall from grace in the past), I am angry with Royal Blood (due to their new release).
There are some nice tracks for sure on this record, like the opening track Trouble's Coming, which is possibly the most convincing of the entire album, as well as the single Limbo (amazing drumming, I really like the drummer), and the odd single Boilermaker (I leave the video at the bottom of the page).
Typhoons, the title track, with its lovely big riff, would undoubtedly be if it weren't for the overbearing choirs, and many others if they were produced in a more straightforward manner. Either you want it to be leaner than the others, or you want it to be something different, like the last, very brief solo piano and voice track All We Have Is Now.
I try to be as clear as possible: Typhoons by Royal Blood is not awful music at all; in fact, there is a lot of work and attention that went into this album, but the band's new direction is unquestionably the wrong one. At least for me.
Rating 58/100
Top tracks: Trouble's Coming, Boilermaker, Limbo.
Skip tracks: Million and one, Mad vision
Tracklist:
01. Trouble's Coming
02. Oblivion
03. Typhoons
04. Who Needs Friends
05. Million And One
06. Limbo
07. Either You Want It
08. Boilermaker
09. Mad Visions
10. Hold On
11. All We Have Is Now