New release: The Royston Club prove their potential with 2nd album, Songs for the Spine.
- Aug 19, 2025
- 6 min read
Hailing from Wrexham, The Royston Club have carved out a name as one of the UK’s most promising bands, pairing their infectious indie-style hooks with a northern grit. The four-piece, consisting of Tom Faithfull on lead vocals, Ben Matthias on lead guitar, Dave Tute on bass, and Sam Jones on drums, formed in 2019, and they’ve steadily built themselves a loyal fanbase through their catchy tunes, powerful lyricism, and relentless gigging. Their debut album, Shaking Hips And Crashing Cars, put them on the map as a band overflowing with potential; now, with their sophomore album, Songs For The Spine, they have shed any lingering debut jitters. Their place in the indie/ alternative rock scene has been solidified, and it is undeniable that they will be the next big faces in the music scene.
Songs For The Spine introduces a shift in The Royston Club’s discography, taking them from being boxed in as just any British indie rock boy-band and instead letting them break through and explore more mature sounds, themes, and even new audiences through their more ballad-style songs.
This album opens with Shivers, spacious at first and then bursting into full instrumentation; it’s a fitting introduction to a project that weaves between a rush of adrenaline and raw vulnerability. Being the first song guitarist Ben Matthias had written in a minor key only further shows the experimentation & growth that this album subtly holds. This track follows the theme of grasping onto your lover and desperately holding onto their presence as “time slips away” rapidly. What I think is one of the more compelling aspects of the songwriting in this album is the references to religious imagery within the relationships discussed, whether about someone else or themselves. In this case, the lyric “clutch me like a rosary” stands out to me as it highlights the intensity of devotion, equating human desire with divine worship and faith.
Chasing that adrenaline, The Patch Where Nothing Grows jumpstarts into what's now become an iconic riff for the band and a festival belter. This track was released well before the album, being its first single, and it serves us a mix of upbeat indie instrumentals and bittersweet lyrics. An anthem that follows battling the feelings that the relationship will hit a dead end and coming to terms with that emotion: “I’ll fall gently in this grove, in the patch where nothing grows”. The catchiness of this tune and its relatability have quickly made it a fan favourite and a staple in their discography.
Crowbar keeps the pace with an upbeat, indie rock sound. It’s a jolt of energy and another of this project’s immediate adrenaline bursts. Despite not being a single for this album, it still holds single potential, which seemingly seems to be one of The Royston Club’s strengths, as their previous album had major song successes aside from their singles, such as I’m a Liar.
Glued to the Bed slows down the pace of this project, leaning into melancholy and capturing the weight of heartbreak. It’s a song that lyrically paints a picture of grasping onto the small things that remind you of a person: “pain is all that's left of her, won't let that disappear.” The sonic arrangement in this song leaves room for the lyrics to sit with you, similarly to how these lyrics are going back and forth between trying to forget and clinging to the memories. It’s obvious that this track almost acts as a letter to the writer himself: “Oh, Ben, she's boxed up and thrown you, completely broke you, but I'm still thinking of her when I'm not thinking at all.” There's no audience, there's just real vulnerability; an internal, honest conversation.
Cariad, the Welsh word meaning love, expresses affection and signals intimacy, as well as keeping the band's Welsh roots present throughout their album, wearing their identity proudly on their sleeves. This track was released as the 4th single and starts accepting of the end of a relationship but as the band gradually layers in sound, the growing yearning for the relationship swells, ending in a release where the “accepting its over” turns into “good God I resent you for leaving, but I cant pretend I don’t need you”. The lyrics in Cariad are simply presented yet so complex, slipping into the track seamlessly. The line that sticks out for me in this single, in particular, is “I found God in sin”. It’s paradoxical, finding God in the act of sin, but ultimately a core part of the human experience, once again taking our desires and placing them on a pedestal using the imagery of religion and faith. What I love about Cariad is that it is complex, messy, contradictory, intimate, and vulnerable; it’s the experience of love, sex, heartache, and reminiscing.
30/20 musically presents us with an uneasy feeling of motion; it feels fast-paced through its taut and clipped verses despite still being a mid-tempo track, and this is by no mistake. The track's title comes from an experience Ben had when visiting his hometown, driving 10mph faster than the limit, which had just been changed right before moving to England. This was a tipping point in the guilt already felt for leaving his home to follow his music, which explains the pre-chorus of the song: “Guilt surrounds the limits changing, I feel estranged speeding over it / I suppose it's the catholic in me, but I can barely breathe” and the line: “With blind faith shoved in a song”. What is so captivating about this track is how relatable the topic is, and the comfort that can be felt in it, despite the discomfort of being overwhelmed by guilt. Once again, what I love the most throughout this album are these religious references; framing the guilt as supposedly being “the catholic in me”, acknowledging that this guilt isn't entirely rational or chosen, once again being a relatable yet unspoken experience.
Spinning is The Royston Club at their most cinematic, stretching what it means to be vulnerable and uneasy into something worthy of being belted across huge crowds. It's a track that burns slowly, gradually building only to burst with raw emotion and angst being projected through vocalist Tom Faithfull’s gritty and powerful vocals. Another non-single success, starting a quick wave of fans posting to this song on social media and sharing their favourite lyrics from the track that hold power and resonate with them.
The back and forth between the emotional development and more mature tracks in this project, and their guitar-led, indie-rock anthems, really give you a sense of the direction that the band is progressing and growing in. Keeping aspects that their audience is familiar with sonically, as well as putting themselves out there as storytellers through the writing. Through the Cracks and Curses and Spit ties both of those aspects together, piecing a cathartic story about loss and guilt and masking it in the upbeat guitar riffs and catchy hooks. It's clear that The Royston Club has a knack for leaving you wanting more, and even as the album begins to conclude, these songs are no exception.
The Ballad of Glenn Campbell is the highlight of the album for me personally. The band leans into patience here, letting the song breathe with its mellow piano and vocals before unfolding into something almost overwhelming. To me, that feels like the charm of this song. The lyrics feel deeply personal, yet it speaks to anyone who's ever gone through the experience of loss and longing. For me, this is the band's boldest moment; it's proof that The Royston Club can go beyond catchy indie tunes and deliver something completely new, mature, and with emotional weight. It doesn't feel overly perfect or polished, and that's why it hits so hard.
Songs for the Spine is an album that thrives on contrast, love and guilt, loss and longing,
adrenaline and patience, creating an embodiment of the human experience. Whilst The Royston Club still leans into their knack for infectious hooks, the slower and more deliberate moments stick out and reveal their real progression, and even with the tracks that tread familiar paths, this body of work feels refreshing, cohesive, and confident, showcasing a band pushing their boundaries without abandoning their identities as musicians.
Links:
Comments