Broke Royals
“Ave” is a short instrumental work opening the latest release from Broke Royals, Saint Luxury, and sets an excellent preamble for the thirteen tracks following this opener. Many of the elements defining the songwriting are in place over the course of its forty eight second running time – guitar, piano, cinematic broad strokes, and a sense of possibility. Philip Basnight and Colin Cross, the masterminds behind the band’s songwriting and the conceptual ideas driving Saint Luxury, are raising the bar for their art with this new release and it is thrilling to hear two young rock musicians who haven’t given up on the genre as a vehicle for creative expression. They, instead, embrace its continuing potential and make the most of it in a way we don’t often hear in 2019. The thirteen songs following “Ave” bear out this assertion over and over again.
The title song and “Bad Chemicals” are the first two tracks on the album including vocals and lyrics. “Saint Luxury” is the more gripping of the two, in my estimation, thanks to the big screen qualities of the song and it is quite impressive how Cross and Basnight’s songwriting weaves a number of disparate elements into an unified whole. I like the guitar playing a lot as well – there is no big solo showcase for the six string work to shine, but it sparkles nonetheless thanks to how its melodic attributes enhance the overall presentation. The lyrics are rife with a number of brilliant lines and you can’t help but admire the economical elegance they achieve with the way they turn a phrase.
“Bad Chemicals” is restrained by comparison, but shares many of the same strengths I hear during the title cut. The lyrics, once again, are literate without ever sounding obscure and the intelligence driving its ideas is impossible to ignore. Piano and keyboards play a key supporting role in the song and there is a lot of space in the song for the singing to shine. Piano is an important source of color in “Direyes” as well, but there are percussion accents present in the performance missing from other tracks helping it stand out from the pack and crucial backing voices strengthening the lead vocal.
They take up a torrid pace for the track “The World Is Ours” and the hard-charging riffing breaks with the musical character of what came before. They vary from that approach, however, at the right moments and mixing things up helps make this song an even more rewarding musical experience. “After All” has guitar playing sounding close to a saxophone line instead of a guitar and the song’s languid pace coupled with the unique guitar makes it a near soul track for Broke Royals. It is a welcome change of pace late in the album over the rockier efforts preceding it.
The second to last tune “God Bless Saint Luxury” may not be the album’s conclusion, but the short song is a near bookend with the title track and bears all the earmarks of a near conclusion. Despite the brief duration, under three minutes long, Broke Royals manage to pack a lot of lyrical content into the cut. “This Is Really Happening”, the album’s end, is an ideal closer for Saint Luxury and boasts some introspective lyrics that tie up loose ends and receive an first rate vocal treatment. It closes their new album with considerable gentleness and its careful development reflects the confidence the band has in both the album and song. It’s confidence well justified.
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Trace Whittaker
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
8/2019
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