How Did We Get So Dark? Royal Blood

• 1 How Did We Get So Dark? 03:17
• 2 Lights Out 03:56
• 3 I Only Lie When I Love You 02:49
• 4 She's Creeping 03:23
• 5 Look Like You Know 03:05
• 6 Where Are You Now? 02:46
• 7 Don't Tell 03:38
• 8 Hook, Line & Sinker 03:27
• 9 Hole In Your Heart 03:46
• 10 Sleep 04:16
• Total Runtime 34:23

Info for How Did We Get So Dark?

After becoming the biggest breaking British rock band with their self-titled 2014 debut album, Royal Blood’s eagerly anticipated second album ‘How Did We Get So Dark?’ will be released on June 16th on Warner Bros. Records.

Royal Blood’s breakthrough was huge. Their debut album was the fastest-selling British rock debut in three years, hitting #1 in the UK. Before they knew it they were touring with the Foo Fighters and being presented with a BRIT for Best British Band in 2015.

The ten tracks that feature on ‘How Did We Get So Dark?’ were written in instrumental form during sessions in Brighton, Hollywood, Los Angeles and Nashville. Always trying to explore ways of stripping their enormous sound back to give it more space and impact, inspiration for the lyrics came from events in vocalist/bassist Mike Kerr’s life since the band first found huge success.

In November 2016. Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher, along with producer Jolyon Thomas, spent six weeks in a studio in Brussels that was decked out like a New York diner and featured a warehouse of antique gear. ‘How Did We Get So Dark?’ was subsequently completed after a final session in London with their debut album’s co-producer Tom Dalgety.

The album’s first single ‘Lights Out’ ups the ante from their debut with a wrecking ball of a groove cemented by Thatcher’s thunderous rhythms, while Kerr wrangles the twisted invention of his bass riffs to a whole new level. Their patented two-man artillery of carefully constructed melodic aggression is prevalent throughout, especially in ‘I Only Lie When I Love You’ which is a compelling cowbell-assisted reminder of the power of a stop-start riff and a strident chorus. There are times where Royal Blood are more visceral than ever – notably the gargantuan introduction to ‘Hook, Line & Sinker’ and also the intense denouement that brings ‘Looks Like You Know’ to a close.

While the album finds Royal Blood refining their melodic might, there are other moments that fulfil their aim to create songs that will add new dimensions to their live sets. Adorned with Kerr’s falsetto, ‘Don’t Tell’ drops the intensity to mesmerising effect, while ‘Where Are You Now?’ pulsates with a bounding energy that’s quite a step apart from anything else in their catalogue. The Royal Blood palette is also expanded with the complementary addition of piano or keyboards on four tracks, including the foreboding album closer ‘Sleep’.

Royal Blood

Royal Blood
Brighton duo Royal Blood channeled the blues-rock dynamism of the likes of the White Stripes, the Black Keys, and Two Gallants, yet they amped up the ferocity and volume with scuzzy riffs and blustering energy. Comprising drummer Ben Thatcher and bassist/vocalist Mike Kerr, the two-piece formed at the beginning of 2013 when Kerr returned from a trip to Australia and Thatcher picked him up from the airport.

They managed to play their first show the very next day and continued to write new material throughout the year. Although constrained to just two instruments, they made their presence known with pounding drums and heavily distorted bass guitar that drove the melodic intensity of their songs, alongside Kerr's emotive vocals. They were championed by the BBC on their Sound of 2014 list, as well as Arctic Monkeys' Matt Helders, who wore their T-shirt during their headlining 2013 Glastonbury performance and invited them to open their huge Finsbury Park shows.

The duo then released the single "Out of the Black" and signed to Warner Bros. later that year. A second single, "Little Monster," appeared in February of 2014, while a four-song EP, Out of the Black, came a month later in March, collecting the A- and B-sides of the two singles. Their debut self-titled full length was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and was released later that year.

Booklet for How Did We Get So Dark?