Cover Feature After darkness comes the light: Royal Blood

Sat around the table of a swish Soho bar, sipping a fresh mint tea - that they’ll soon switch out for wine - and wearing variations of trademark black, Royal Blood are getting revved up. It’s not, as you might reasonably assume, because in less than two hours they’ll debut ‘Lights Out’ – the first track from their hugely-anticipated second album ‘How Did We Get So Dark?’ – live on air to the world. No, no. Frontman Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher have just invented a new game, and they’re feeling pretty good about it.

“It’s called Chop Suey, and you basically get a lady called Sue in and see how fast she can chop up an onion,” explains Ben. “There’s different rounds. Vegetable. Chicken. In one, she has to fillet a salmon.” “It’s 4pm! It’s Saturday! You know what time it is: Choooop Suuuuey!” chimes in Mike in his best game show host tenor. “How good’s that game? Go on, you can say it. It’s gold.”

“Oh, I’ve got another game now,” Ben adds, “‘It’s Gold’, and you have to guess whether or not something is gold.” “Oooooh, sorry, that one’s actually nickel,” quips Mike. “Better luck next time.”

While the Brighton duo’s ideas to revolutionise TV may not quite be ready to face the Dragon’s Den panel just yet, what they have had a fair stab at - since being catapulted into the public eye back in 2013, at least - is giving their niche of riff-heavy direct hitters a new lease of life. It’s something they’ve proven undeniably adept at, picking up a Number One for their self-titled 2014 debut, a BRIT Award, Mercury Music Prize nomination and the patronage of rock’s top table along the way for proof.