This is a bio about Royel Otis. Royel Otis is a band. There are two members: Royel and Otis. Royel is the one with guitar. Otis is the one with the voice. Together, they make deceptively simple, emotionally complex anthems perfect for drinking beer in the sun, dancing with your friends, and finally working up the courage to kiss your crush on the mouth.
Hailing from Bondi Beach, Australia, Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic met while working in bars and cafés around the area. They first entered the studio as relative strangers but quickly discovered a shared knack for crafting glowing, addictive melodies with dynamite hooks. Their music evokes the thrill of firsts—the first gig, first kiss, first hickey—and resonates with an irrepressible sense of cool.
The pair caught attention with the release of their debut album PRATTS & PAIN alongside their viral covers of The Cranberries’ “Linger” and Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor,” the latter of which became a cultural phenomenon, climbing to #1 on Alternative Radio in the U.S. Their original tracks, like the balmy “Oysters in My Pocket” and the punchy “Sofa King,” combine jangly guitars with laser-focused hooks and have scored hundreds of millions of streams while achieving viral successes on TikTok. Their acclaim comes as no surprise. Whether it’s the soaring choruses that hum in your head for weeks or the tangible warmth of their melodies, listening to Royel Otis feels like falling in love with music for the first time.
Last year was a breakout year for the band. They made their U.S. late-night television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and embarked on an ambitious tour that saw them sell out over 100 shows across the States and internationally. Their live performances have an almost magnetic quality, transforming crowds into a unified, euphoric consciousness. Onstage, their camaraderie shines as they lean on each other’s shoulders and share knowing glances, locked into a shared language of friendship. “I used to get so nervous before shows that I threw up,” says Royel. “But now it’s become second nature.” Now focused on giving their audience a feeling of “pure ecstasy,” they've both let go of their pre-show fright. “We just want to make people dance together,” says Otis. “Everyone’s invited.”
They channeled everything they’d learned from firing up audiences into their new album, hickey. True to its name, this latest project is, in Royel’s words, “naughty and romantic all at the same time. Because love bites harder than any other emotion in the world.” It is also a clear step forward for the band—cleaner, more confident, and constantly dazzling. Tracks like “moody,” a slacker rock and the motorik rhythms of “say something” — a favorite of the pair’s to perform — showcase a refined yet propulsive sound. Their second single “car” is sure to be a gem with its loose, dulcet guitars and a lazy, sun-soaked rhythm that feels like a half-forgotten summer afternoon. It’s far less oblique than their oysters in their pockets past, with the lyrics more direct, literal, and meant to be understood by everyone. Working with an esteemed team, that includes the likes of Omar Fedi, Amy Allen as well as Blake Slatkin, Julian Bunetta, and Lydia Kitto and Josh Lloyd-Watson of Jungle and longtime collaborator Chris Collins, they honed their songwriting and storytelling skills, ensuring everything was clear-cut and super sharp.
Royel Otis know implicitly that this is music to swim and sip to. “dancing with myself,” one of the album’s floatier numbers, ends with the sound of a can opening. With glowering Beach Boys-like harmonies, puckered up guitar and dazed-for-days production, across the album, the boys conjure a very specific time and place: an early evening on the beach in late summer. Listening to it, you can almost smell the salty hair and sea-soaked swim trunks.
It’s not all breezy however. There’s some vague hints of melancholy and heartbreak on songs like “i hate this tune” and “who’s your boyfriend,” that aims to capture the whole picture of young adulthood, in its quiet chaos.
A clear glow-up from their earlier, pub-drowned sounds, hickey is poised to make Royel Otis one of the biggest acts in indie rock this side of the decade. Let’s just say, it’ll leave its mark.
