Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr recently had an interview with NME and talked about how Royal Blood’s vision has evolved over the years. Regarding the duo’s ambitions when they first started, Mike explained that their success was unexpected, and their focus wasn’t solely artistic:
“We didn’t have any ambitions really. It was all fast and very surprising. [The success] still baffles me. At that time there wasn’t much rock music and when we were recording, there was this sense that, ‘No one likes this [type of music] anymore, let’s do it anyway.’We had spent like £300 recording ‘Figure It Out,’ ‘Hole’ and ‘Come On Over.’ The only ambition we had was to make that money back, because otherwise it would have been a waste of time and money.”
In terms of their current ambitions, Kerr revealed that they’re having fun and enjoying what they do now:
“It’s about feeling rather than knowing where we want to go. Right now, we feel like we’re playing our best and we’re at a really strong point creatively. As soon as that feeling goes, it’s time to take a break or stop because the queue is out the door for what we do. The driving force for us is that we actually love what we do.”
Royal Blood’s fourth studio album, ‘Back To The Water Below,’ just came out on September 1st. In the interview, when asked whether the duo had a specific vision in mind while making the album, Kerr said:
“I don’t think we knew what we were going to make. Some of the songs were written while we were touring [2021’s ‘Typhoons’] and we carried on as soon as we got off the road. It was a process of discovery. What’s fun about making records is not knowing where you’re going, until it’s too late.”
In a separate interview, the frontman revealed the main point in ‘Back To The Water Below’ and its differences from their previous albums:
“For the first time, I feel like you can play every song on a piano or an acoustic guitar and the songs would survive being presented in different ways. Previously on other records, there are songs led by the riff or the muscle or strength of being heavy or loud. This record is all about the song, and that’s always been the thing since the beginning.”
He also mentioned how their ideas as musicians differentiate from current rock fans:
“One thing that always annoys people is a catchy rock song. They’ll be like, ‘How dare you attempt to write a pop song while wearing a guitar?’ To us, that’s always been the point – making things that stick with you.”
You can listen to the album below.