Royel Otis’s profile is on an exponential uptick. Since the start of 2024, the Australian duo have released their debut album ‘Pratts & Pain’, went viral with a zeitgeist-riding cover of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ following its needle-drop moment in Saltburn, and graced The Cover of NME. Busy boys, indeed.
The pair – vocalist Otis Pavlovic and multi-instrumentalist Royel Maddell – appear unfazed by their growing fame. Speaking to NME midway through an LA photo shoot, the pair ooze laconic Aussie chill. “Stoked about it,” Maddell says about gracing the front page and appearing on ‘Bose x NME: C24’. “Growing up, my brother had a stack of NMEs in his room. I never thought we’d be in them.”
Royel Otis’ blend of indie pop-meets-psych rock recalls ’00s indie kings MGMT and Passion Pit, yet the pair’s genre flexibility and emotional vulnerability feels distinctly their own. Their varied, fluid scope reflects an industrious couple of years. Since their 2019 formation, the band have clocked extended periods of time away from their Sydney home, spending months with producers in London, as well as touring Europe, America and their Australian homeland. From the outside, Royel Otis’ career thus far looks like a whirlwind blur of motion.
Predictably, this has resulted in a songwriting process that “changes a lot” according to Pavlovic. “Sometimes one of us will have a voice note or demo and we’ll see what we can flesh out,” he says, “but sometimes Royel or myself will have a full song ready”. Maddell adds: “Once we get an idea, the best way to get a vibe is to lay down a drumbeat and try the idea over it.”
On their contribution to ‘Bose x NME: C24’ – the pair have taken another leap forward, with an effort that’s defined by bluesy, desert rock-inspired guitar leads and infectious vocals. They join their Ourness labelmate Genesis Owusu as artists who’ve created without boundaries for the C-Series mixtape in recent years.
Maddell explains that they wanted the song “to sound like a David Lynch film” and it was inspired by the late composer Angelo Badalamenti, who worked with Lynch on TV show Twin Peaks and cult classic film Mulholland Drive, aiming to emulate the “tone and colour” heard in Badalamenti’s scores. While the relaxed vibe of ‘Nack Nostalgia’ may not immediately feel in sync with Lynch and Badalamenti’s surreal vision, the comparisons reveal themselves in the glistening textures and the heady, ethereal tone.
The “nostalgia” part of the title is, according to Maddell and Pavlovic, to be taken literally. “I think it’s about jumping the fences at parties,” says Maddell. “Being a bit naughty but having a good night nonetheless.” ‘Nack Nostalgia’’s good times vibe seeps through loud and clear. Its tone feels adroitly on par with Royel Otis’s effortless Aussie cool; a musical milieu aided by the circumstances of the track’s creation. Recorded in a studio in Byron Bay, its resplendent scope feels like a direct translation of their area’s famous coastal beauty.
Compared to the south London environment in which the band recorded their debut album, Byron Bay might as well be another planet. “It’s a little sunnier and more beautiful,” laughs Pavlovic. It’s easy to wonder if the globe-trotting pair ever get homesick. Both say that they’re “feeling it”. According to Maddell, “it’s definitely been tough.” Pavlovic adds: “You get busy so you don’t think about it a lot, but sometimes you just think, ‘I miss my mates back home.’”
Despite the homesickness, Royel Otis’s hard graft and brilliant debut album has brought them a rapidly growing fanbase, with NME describing ‘Pratts and Pain’ as a “delightful rhythmic rush of guitar-pop”. The pair are keenly aware of this burgeoning community that their fans are building. Maddell says that their growing audience means there are now “less restrictions” on what he and Pavlovic can create. A lot of musicians in similar situations might feel the opposite. Pavlovic agrees with this suggestion, but explains that, for him and Maddell: “It gets boring if you just do the same shit over and over.”
Stay tuned to NME.com/C24 for the latest on the return of the iconic mixtape