Canadian-American rockers PALAYE ROYALE will release their third album, "The Bastards", on May 29 via Sumerian Records. The official music video for the disc's first single, "Lonely", can be seen below.. The track features some of the most honest and heartbreaking lyrics ever written by frontman Remington Leith and the accompanying clip, which he also directed, is a perfect reflection of the difficult and deeply personal topics addressed by the song of childhood abandonment, mental health issues and drug use.
Remington says: "'Lonely' is about the mental and physical abuse I endured as a child. Growing up, I went through so much shit and at points felt so low I couldn't see a way out. It has affected me deeply throughout my life but I want the world to know that no matter what you're going through, if I can make it out on the other side, so can you."
PALAYE ROYALE has been teasing "The Bastards" since last year. Surrounded by a utopian world created by the band, "The Bastards" is set in a place that is a reflection of their own lives, but in a mythological sense.
Emerson Barrett says: "It takes place around the island of Obsidian and it's set in 1888. In short, it's a world that started off with intentions where the island encouraged free thinkers and artists to exist and, as everything does in life, eventually it becomes this political power and evil toxicity that comes with everything. To remain a true individual in the society, you must wear a gas mask."
Musically, the album is an enormous step up for the band. It is, in turn, dark, lush, angry, vulnerable, caustic and warm. From the grandiose Bond-theme-esque "Tonight Is The Night I Die" to the darkly jarring "Anxiety", from the quietly heartbreaking refrain of "Lonely" and the massive fuzzed up, distorted guitars of "Nightmares (Coming Down)", "The Bastards" demonstrates just how far the band have expanded their writing and musical dexterity, rounding out their already accomplished arson with flourishes of electronics, metal beat-downs, drum-and-bass beats and haunting string arrangements. There are singles on the album, luminous highlights, but it’s also a piece of work that works beautifully when listened to as a whole. That, despite the fact that it was recorded in a variety of locations.
Sebastian Danzig states about the recording process for "The Bastards": "We rented an AirBnB in Joshua Tree, one in London, and we kept on going in little areas and writing new sections of the album. It's crazy — we thought the album was done in March of last year, and we did the heavy stuff in Joshua Tree. We wrote 'Little Bastards' a week before the album was supposed to be mixed and mastered."
Lyrically, the album addresses a number of important issues, prevalent to today's youth — struggles with mental health, the gun violence epidemic, substance use as a means to escape a difficult reality and parental abandonment all play a part in the album's rich lyrical tapestry.
Remington adds: "We need a little honesty and a little truth. The world is getting so tainted by everyone trying to be so fucking perfect and so goddamn PG and trying to walk this line of not trying to offend anyone. People need to be themselves, just for 20 minutes at least."
"The Bastards" track listing:
01. Little Bastards
02. Massacre, The New American Dream
03. Anxiety
04. Tonight Is The Night I Die
05. Lonely
06. Hang On To Yourself
07. Fucking With My Head
08. Nervous Breakdown
09. Nightmares
10. Masochist
11. Doom (Empty)
12. Black Sheep
13. Stay
14. Redeemer
15. Lord Of Lies (Bonus track)
PALAYE ROYALE will hit the road next month for "The Bastards" North American tour next month, beginning in Sacramento on April 17 and hitting a further 25 cities before culminating in a hometown show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on May 29.
