26-Nov-25 Newcastle O2 City Hall
Australian duo Royel Otis’ new album hickey, is out now on OURNESS/Capitol/Island Records, alongside confirming UK dates of their massive ‘meet me in the car’ tour in support of their sophomore record.
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. Watch the video HERE.
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.
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 Glastonbury, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, and Japan’s Fuji Rock. They hit Reading and Leeds last month before launching their ‘meet me in the car’ tour, spanning the U.S., Australia, and Europe. UK dates for the tour are announced today, including shows in London, Glasgow and Manchester. See full itinerary below.
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 couldnever 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.
2025 UK Live shows:
See HERE for full details & tickets.
21-Nov-25 London O2 Academy Brixton
22-Nov-25 London O2 Academy Brixton
23-Nov-25 London O2 Academy Brixton
25-Nov-25 Glasgow O2 Academy
26-Nov-25 Newcastle O2 City Hall
28-Nov-25 Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse
29-Nov-25 Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse
Rescheduled Record Store Dates:
22-Nov-25 London Kingston Circuit Stripped Back performance – 12pm
23-Nov-25 London Rough Trade East In-Store Album Signing – 12pm
26-Nov-25 Glasgow Assai Records In-Store Album Signing – 1pm
29-Nov-25 Manchester Band On The Wall Stripped Back performance – 12pm