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ROYEL OTIS
release new album,
HICKEY
and music video for
“WHO’S YOUR BOYFRIEND”
starring
LOLA TUNG

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Photo – Zora Sicher

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Australian duo Royel Otis share their highly anticipated new album hickey, out now on OURNESS / Capitol Records. With 13 songs that traverse the highs and lows of messy young love, the sophomore set’s sound swings between blissful and wistful, blending together slack indie rock, jangly new wave and swooning dream-pop. 

The LP comes with a music video for “who’s your boyfriend” directed by Lauren Dunn and featuring Lola Tung, the star of the hit Amazon Prime series The Summer I Turned Pretty.

hickey arrives as the effortlessly infectious lead single “moody” notches a seventh week atop the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart, which made Royel Otis the first new act this year to nab a Triple A crown. The band also recently performed “say something“ on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon amid a winning run of festival appearances in the U.S. and abroad including Outside Lands, Lollapalooza and Japan’s Fuji Rock. They hit Reading and Leeds next before launching their “meet me in the car” tour, spanning the U.S., Australia and Europe.

Cowritten by Royel Otis (Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic) with Amy Allen (Sabrina Carpenter, Harry Styles) and producer Blake Slatkin (Gracie Abrams, Omar Apollo), “who’s your boyfriend” is a romantic new wave dream featuring soaring synth melodies, tumbling drums and driving guitars. The track finds Royel Otis caught in a friendship with someone who seems to want it both ways, building to the sing-along hook, “He bailed on your birthday, and you’re calling me up a lot / So, baby, who’s your boyfriend now? While you’re sleeping with him, is it me you’re thinking about?”

Bringing it full circle, Royel Otis’ viral cover of the Cranberries 1993 hit “Linger” made it into a recent episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty — watch a clip from the show HERE.

About their new album, hickey, Royel Otis had this to share: “Love bites harder than any other emotion in the world.”

hickey opens on “i hate this tune”, an ironically catchy song that features Otis’ voice coasting over racing rhythms: “You know I hate this tune ’cause I think of you / Fell in love with this place I could never replace / You know I hate this tune ’cause I think of you, I do.” The album also includes the previously released “car” (which launched as a BBC Radio 1 “Hottest Record”) co-written with producer Omer Fedi (Lil Nas X, The Kid LAROI). Royel Otis brought their vision to life with additional input from Julian Bunetta, Billy Walsh, J Lloyd and Lydia Kitto, among others. They recently sat down with Billboard and Atwood Magazine to discuss the process. They also featured on the digital cover of FLOOD Magazine who called hickey a “bold leap forward”.

Royel Otis kicked off their new musical era in May with back-to-back gigs at West Hollywood’s storied Troubadour that sold out within minutes. They’ve been on a tear through nearly every festival worth attending stateside and abroad since, while also throwing pop-up shows along the way. In Toronto, they even played to the fans outside who didn’t make it into the impromptu gig.

They’ve been adding dates to their upcoming “meet me in the car” tour, too, which begins August 5 in Seattle before sweeping across North America, dipping into Australia (including a headliner at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena) in October and heading to Europe in November. The pair have already sold out major North American cities including Austin, Toronto and New York with second nights added.

Visit Here for more info and find Royel Otis’ full tour itinerary below.

hickey is out now
BUY/STREAM HERE | WATCH HERE

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ROYEL OTIS
AUS Tour 

Friday 17 October – Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne
Monday 20 October – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane (sold out)
Tuesday 21 October – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane (2nd show added)
Friday 24 October – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney (sold out)
Saturday 25 October – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney (2nd show added)
Wednesday 29 October – The Ice Cream Factory, Perth

Tickets here

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Follow ROYEL OTIS
You Tube – Instagram – Spotify – X

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About ROYEL OTIS:

Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic’s chance meeting feels almost destined. They were both working at bars and cafes in the same neighbourhood (the beachside town of Bondi) before getting together one day in 2019 with their guitars and some song sketches. And without any expectations, they soon spotted it: an unspoken chemistry that resulted in effortless rock wonders, new tunes that somehow seemed as if they’d always existed. The rest of the world would soon follow suit when the pair became true breakout acts both online and in rock clubs alike with early charmers such as “Oysters in My Pocket” (Bar & Grill EP, 2022) and “Sofa King” (Going Kokomo EP, 2023). Then came their soaring debut album called PRATTS & PAIN and the legendary run that catapulted the band to indie-rock infamy, globally. The album was named for the south London pub where the pair would pen lyrics between sessions with GRAMMY nominated Dan Carey (Wet Leg, Fontaines D.C., Caroline Polachek) and bore hits like “Fried Rice” and “Foam”.  

Preceding the album’s release in February of 2024, was the pair’s Triple J “Like A Version” recording, taking on Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on The Dancefloor”. The performance became a zeitgeist shaping hit, eventually hitting #1 on Alternative U.S. Radio Chart, #2 on Billboard Alternative Airplay, #5 on Billboard Rock & Alternative and rounding out at the #2 position on Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2024 charts, earlier this year. Their twilit cover of The Cranberries’ “Linger”, cut for a Sirius XM Session a few months later, led the band to their first Billboard Hot 100 hit and currently has over 220 Million global streams. With the demand for live shows at a high, the guys played more than 100 sold out shows the rest of 2024, selling over 100,000 tickets across Australia, U.K, Europe and U.S. This included multiple nights in major cities like New York (Brooklyn Steel), Chicago (Metro & The Salt Shed) and Los Angeles (The Bellwether).

The band returned home for a triumphant, sold-out show at the Hordern Pavilion as well as massive new year’s performances at Lost Paradise, Beyond The Valley and Wildlands. They were the most nominated artists at the 2024 ARIA Awards and went on to win four awards including “Best Rock Album” and “Best Group.” Since their culmination, Royel Otis have drawn from an endless source of good hooks and spirit — riding on their musical chemistry that exudes into mixes of melody and bittersweet humour. Whether it is an original body of work or taking on their favourite song, the pair have cemented their status as one of the most effortless and endearing indie rock bands to emerge this decade.

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AMNPLIFY – DB