I don't discover new music anymore. In Before World, I went to festivals, diligently researching all the new (to me) artists before the day. Concerts were great opportunities too, with support bands or at least some killer tunes from the DJ beforehand. It was even better when I worked in London. Billboards, posters, CDs in-store, my weekly album-a-day playlists to decide what made it to my permanent collection; the sources of new music were endless and I could have easily written annual top-ten album lists if I wasn't perpetually lazy.
Life is different now in every way. I've gone from 90 minute commutes (each way) five years ago to half an hour of total commuting to rolling out of bed and sitting at my desk within ten minutes now. Which means that with the exception of prog-house albums for running to, I've discovered exactly one new (to me) artist in 2020.
It's as dire as it sounds.
That doesn't mean I haven't listened to any alternative or indie music this year, I've just relied on tired old playlists of my favourite tracks when I'm actually a full-album listener at heart. I'm also a big resolution-setter and I usually start resolutions in autumn, not January, so my new resolution is to discover as many new artists as possible, preferably one a week but I'll allow for the occasional love affairs where I play an album on repeat for six weeks.
Royal Blood
My first discovery is Royal Blood who've been around since 2011. I discovered them a couple of weeks ago when they released the Purple Disco Machine Remix of "Trouble's Coming". I immediately liked what I was hearing, it reminded me of the remixes Klaxons used to release and that is a good thing. Klaxons was my favourite band for years and I've never been reminded of them before.
I took a listen to How Did We Get So Dark? (2017). The album gave me a Muse and Kings of Leon vibe. I'm not the biggest Kings of Leon fan strangely enough, strictly hits only, but I knew straight away that this album is a keeper. My favourite tracks are "Lights Out" and "Hook, Line & Sinker" which were released as singles but honestly, this is an album I can listen to whole and I was always a little disappointed when it ended.
Which lead me neatly to their self-titled debut album Royal Blood (2014). This album is brilliant throughout, especially the first three tracks from the explosive opening track "Out of the Black" through "Come on Over" to "Figure It Out".
The best thing is that both albums are short at around 30 minutes, so I've just been listening to both of them over and over.
I'm was hoping that "Trouble's Coming" meant that a new album was on the way and Loudwire confirmed it'll land in Spring 2021. Fabulous news indeed.
I'm very happy with my first discovery. Onwards and upwards to the next one!
