The Sydney, Australia-based duo Royel Otis have shared their debut track and video, “Only One,” and announced their brand new EP Campus, set for release on September 30th, 2021 on House Anxiety / Ourness. A woozy, psych-infused groove, “Only One” was produced by Julian Sudek and mixed by Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, Flaming Lips, MGMT) and is the first taste of what’s to come from the beguiling new band.

Royel Otis is the brainchild of self-proclaimed “young scoundrels” Otis Pavlovic and Royel Maddell. Friends and kindred spirits born on the sun-drenched coastline of Australia’s iconic Bondi Beach, this unique and idyllic way of life naturally influences their sound. They launch today with “Only One,” oozing with knowing charm and brooding lyricism, “I’m just so tired of my sick mind” laments Otis in its opening bars, the track embodies an ethereal yet rock n roll groove not dissimilar from much-adored coming-of-age soundtracks. The debut single is accompanied by a dreamlike video which sees the band glide along the beach at sunset with the pastel blue sky for a backdrop. 

From Royel’s time spent in New York, to the old Japanese ‘city-pop’ like Hiroshi Sato and the legends Jonathan Richmond, The Strokes and Daft Punk, Royel Otis finds their inspiration in the most intriguing of places. This melting pot of sonics form who the band are at their essence, Royel explains, “We want to create a sound that holds the same raw, honest, evocative feeling that inspired us to pick up our instruments in the first place. We wrote [Only One] in the midst of recording and kept building on it throughout the process for some fun. A lot of ‘try this or try that’ was going on and I don’t think we ever really knew where we were going with it, but that’s kind of the beauty of the track, it explains its strange structure and changes.”

The magnetic new duo recently signed to notorious imprints House Anxiety / Ourness, who, between them, introduced the world to King Krule, Genesis Owusu and Courtney Barnett. With Royel Otis’ first track now unleashed into the world, we can safely say that they are the only ones to be watching out for in 2021.

Photo Courtesy: Byron Spencer