Wrexham quartet The Royston Club are set to step into the indie-rock Premier League with the imminent drop of their sophomore studio album, Songs For The Spine, arriving August 8th. With phenomenal ticket demand, significant pre-orders and surging streaming numbers, the record looks poised to easily outstrip the #16 chart position claimed by their debut and cement their status as one of Britain’s most exciting breakout guitar bands.
In anticipation of the album, today sees the release of their latest single, ‘Cariad.’ Swapping their signature rabble-rousing indie bangers for hushed acoustic confessions, the track finds the band at their most disarmingly sincere.
Frontman Thom Faithfull trades swagger for raw, melancholic and wistful vocals that drift somewhere between the bruised beauty of Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ and the tender ache of The Verve’s ‘On Your Own,’ while tapping into a lineage of anthemic melancholy all their own. But don’t get too comfortable — true to form, the track doesn’t stay subdued for long. Its towering, slowburning crescendo has all the makings of their first genuine crossover anthem.
Lyrically, ‘Cariad’ showcases the band’s growing depth, unpicking the emotional tangle of heartbreak with a disarming directness. It’s a track that feels purpose-built to connect, whether in headphones or ringing out across festival fields.
As with the rest of Songs For The Spine, production comes courtesy of Rich Turvey (Blossoms, Rachel Chinouriri), who helps broaden the band’s sonic palette without losing the immediacy that’s won them a devoted following. Early listens suggest the album balances the signature Royston Club hooks with a bolder, more experimental approach — one that feels ready to launch the band onto a much larger stage.
If Cariad is any indication, The Royston Club are no longer content to be indie’s best-kept secret.
Speaking about the origins of Cariad, guitarist and main songwriter Ben Matthias reflects on the emotional intimacy that served as a genesis for the track.
“‘Cariad was written very soon after a breakup, when I still believed I was in love with the girl and was struggling to come to terms with the relationship ending,” he explains. “I had an almost obsessive attachment to the memory of our time together and those memories seemed inescapable, constantly confronting me with what I had lost … In the first half of the song I surrender the relationship to the past and ‘let the air run out,’ letting it die. However, the outro betrays this acceptance as I admit, ‘I still wake up with things to tell you’ and ask to feel her touch again, ‘just once again.’ It’s a song that, to me, encapsulates just how messy love, sex, memory, and self-worth can be.”
‘Cariad’ joins recent singles ‘The Patch Where Nothing Grows,’ ‘Shivers’ and ‘Glued To The Bed’ as harbingers for Songs For The Spine. The growing buzz around the record has seen the band pick up mounting critical acclaim and regular airplay, including a spot on the Radio X playlist and support from Steve Lamacq at BBC 6 Music. Pre-orders alone are already set to match the entire first-week sales of their debut — a clear sign of how rapidly their audience is expanding.
The Blood Records zoetrope edition of Songs For The Spine sold out its entire 500-copy pressing in under an hour. Other formats — including a range of vinyl variants, CD and cassette — are available to pre-order here, while the band’s official store also offers signed prints and a photo booklet with select bundles.
The Royston Club’s summer touring schedule is equally ambitious, with main stage appearances lined up at Reading and Leeds Festivals, plus a run of intimate record store shows. Their subsequent UK headline tour is already close to selling out months in advance, though limited tickets remain for a handful of dates here.
The band’s more than extensive live dates are as follows:
JULY
10 – Manchester, Castlefield Bowl (w/ Bloc Party)
11 – TRNSMT Festival
12 – Leeds, Millennium Square (w/ The Lathums)
19 – Llandudno, Venue Cymru Arena (w/ Travis)
25 – Latitude Festival
27 – Tramlines Festival
AUGUST
2 – Kendal Calling
5 – Nottingham, Rough Trade (Matinee – Just Added)
5 – Nottingham, Rough Trade (Evening – Sold Out)
6 – Bristol, Rough Trade (Matinee – Just Added)
6 – Bristol, Rough Trade (Evening – Sold Out)
8 – Liverpool, Jacaranda (Matinee – Sold Out)
8 – Liverpool, Jacaranda (Evening – Sold Out)
12 – London, Rough Trade East (Matinee – Just Added)
12 – London, Rough Trade East (Evening – Sold Out)
13 – Brighton, Resident (Sold Out)
15 – Hardwick Festival
22 – Reading Festival
23 – Leeds Festival
24 – Rock en Seine (Paris)
Headline Tour – October
16 – Brighton, Concorde 2 (Sold Out)
17 – Bristol, Electric (Sold Out)
18 – Birmingham, O2 Institute (Sold Out)
23 – Manchester, Academy 1 (Sold Out)
24 – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
25 – Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom (Final Tickets)
31 – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town (Final Tickets)
Headline Tour – November
1 – Sheffield, Octagon (Sold Out)
15 – Paris, Supersonic Records
18 – Amsterdam, Paradiso Noord (Tolhuistuin)
19 – Cologne, Blue Shell
20 – Berlin, Maschinenhaus
22 – Hamburg, Nochtspeicher
Be sure to keep up with all things The Royston Club online:
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | X | Website
Featured image: Sam Crowston
