The Curious Case Of Royel Otis, Live at Brixton Academy: Gig Review
Nothing says Australian surfside indie like shivering in your coat and gloves.
On a bitterly cold Friday night, The Groove headed to Brixton Academy to catch Aussies Royel Otis on the first of three sold out nights along their UK & EU tour.
Unfortunately, even the infectious hooks and charismatic energy of Sydney singer Otis Pavlovic that bolstered the duo from local talent to international stages couldn’t reach the circle. ‘We need some of your heat, it’s cold up here!’ he shouted from the stage himself.
Watching our breath condense in front of us, the evening’s openers Still Blank took to the stage, armed with four guitars between five people. ‘Ain’t Quite Right’ commanded the most attention, a sultry slow-build from the upcoming duo that was a great finish to a largely talked-over set.
And ‘Ain’t Quite Right’ could be used to describe the headliners’ set too.
After plenty of time to replenish pints and find every seat filled in the upstairs section, Royel Otis joined the room to rapturous applause, for a set lasting just seventy-five minutes; compiled mostly of indie bangers from August album, ‘Hickey’.
Graphics filled the screen from the start; a heavily Gen-Z-oriented visual that didn’t seem an obvious match for the diverse demographic upstairs. Neon pink signs that flashed names, commands and performatively nonchalant descriptions (‘this is a song about…’) were overdone; becoming distracting once their novelty wore off.
It took the crowd a while to physically warm up, take off jackets, and visibly get into the spirit (at least from upstairs – word from the stalls said it was hot and heaving). But by the end of the set; hands were raised and the packed out rows were dancing – if not because they were instructed to by the flashing neon signs.
Royel Otis, on ‘Hickey’ tour. Photo credit: Bethany Cordery
Otis Pavlovic has the envying and appearing effortless ability to open his mouth and sound great. His voice wonderfully decorated the venue in ‘who’s your boyfriend’, ‘more to lose’ and ‘car’. Placed centre stage alongside his counterpart, Royel Maddell performed with confidence and skill – his guitar work as central to the popularity and untroubled sound of Royel Otis as the vocals that join it; especially in ‘shut up’ and ‘kool aid’ solos.
“By the end of the set; hands were raised and the packed out rows were dancing – if not because they were instructed to by the flashing neon signs.”
Royel Otis would have been fools not to perform the two covers that earned them international breakout success. Both Sophie Ellis Bextor’s ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ and The Cranberries’ ‘Linger’ were highly applauded, sounding as fresh as if they were brand new singles.
Royel Otis’ music is the soundtrack of young love, hedonistic nights, and careless summer romances. Their gig visuals solidify it – urgent make-out sessions in the back of a vintage car, bodies pressed together in the water, close-ups of tongue piercings and bra straps.
But it all just seems a bit weird.
It’s hard not to notice the determination with which one half of Royel Otis covers his face. His online presence is much the same: a precise and purposeful omission across press shots, artwork, and live performances. Even in fly-on-the-wall video tour diaries, there is rarely more than a passing glimpse.
Royel Otis member, Royel Maddell. Photo credit: Bethany Cordery
Guessed between 35 and 40, there’s no definitive age for Leroy Bressington, who goes by Royel Maddell; at least a decade senior to the 24/25 year old Pavlovic. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But when you try to find out how the band met, or how they started making music, there’s a menu of different answers; whether it was a bar in Sydney, a villa in Sri Lanka, or whether Otis Pavlovic was a student at Kings Cross Conservatorium where Bressington was teaching music.
Dig deeper, and it all begins to feel a little uncomfortable.
Allegations involving inappropriate behaviour with a former teenage student of the school resurfaced in the wake of controversially worded single ‘moody’, now pushed into a corner of the internet, but still deemed powerful enough for the artist’s representatives to file a legal defamation complaint to Google earlier this year.
“With all this speculation in the public eye and the discussions happening anyway, why are Royel Otis continuing to push the carefree teen aesthetic across their lyrical content and in on-stage visuals?”
Artists can have anxiety or wish to step out the spotlight, can use a stage name, can be subject to false allegations, can market their music outside of their own demographic, can toe the line with lyrics that may cause offence, and can invent origin stories that better suit their PR strategy.
But with all this speculation in the public eye and the discussions happening anyway, why are Royel Otis continuing to push the carefree teen aesthetic across their lyrical content and in on-stage visuals? Especially when the band member in his mid-late thirties draws more attention through the constant act of hiding behind his hair?
There is also a case for judging music on its own merit. And the music was undeniably great. But at Brixton Academy on Friday night; there was just too much contextual unease to fully settle into the gig; to the extent that it’s impossible to review it without considering the wider waters surrounding this band they seem desperate to evade.
Royel Otis member, Otis Pavlovic. Photo credit: Bethany Cordery
Royel Otis continue their UK leg until the end of the month.