ALBUM REVIEW: The Royston Club - Songs For The Spine

Wrexham-born, Liverpool-based Indie quartet The Royston Club are back with a bang with their latest triumph ‘Songs For The Spine’ their sophomore album that almost feels like a love ballad, with songs being pleaded as poems. This time around, the album features an emotional journey of a boy band that is not slowing their momentum any time soon, with powerful guitars, and meaningful vocal performances throughout.

Photo Credit: Sam Crowston

This ten track ballad features slower tracks such as ‘Spinning’ and ‘Cariad’ , as well as their trademark upbeat anthems like ‘The Patch where Nothing Grows’ or ‘30-20’. Cariad, meaning darling in Welsh, carries a deep poignancy as they sing: "All these pictures of you and I, plastered on the hallways of my mind, but now that it's over, I let the air run out’.  This being said, the relationship is over, and the singer is deflated after the romance is over. 

Although songs are filled with broken hearts, more powerful tracks are heard which potentially preach true feelings. ‘30-20’ features huge drum and guitar solos, as lead vocalist Tom Faithfull follows them with "I feel it more at home when I'm tryna to make sense of it, tryna make sense of it all". Although this song does have a more optimistic tone to it, maybe suggesting that the band member has put this relationship past them. 

The album has tracks that stand strong with their previous work with highlights being ‘Shivers’ and ‘The Ballad of Glen Campbell’, a track that rounds the package with a bow, a love letter that starts slow, and gradually builds throughout the journey of relationship highs and lows. It's a powerfully emotional album, that talks of faltered relationships while strengthening the band's relationship with their listeners.