Wrexham indie quarted The Royston Club have shared a strikingly tender new single, ‘Cariad’, ahead of the release of their second album Songs For The Spine, due 8th August.
Known for their more boisterous material, the band take a softer turn here. Built on acoustic verses and a slow-burning, widescreen chorus, ‘Cariad’ reveals a more vulnerable edge to their songwriting. “It was written very soon after a breakup,” says guitarist and main songwriter Ben Matthias, “when I still believed I was in love with the girl and was struggling to come to terms with the relationship ending.”
The track’s quiet strength lies in its emotional duality – moving between acceptance and lingering attachment. “In the first half of the song I surrender the relationship to the past… but the outro betrays this acceptance,” Matthias explains. “‘I still wake up with things to tell you’… ‘just once again’. It’s a song that, to me, encapsulates just how messy love, sex, memory, and self-worth can be.”
Produced by Rich Turvey (Blossoms, Rachel Chinouriri, Overpass), ‘Cariad’ joins recent singles ‘The Patch Where Nothing Grows’, ‘Shivers’, and ‘Glued To The Bed’ in previewing the upcoming album. If pre-orders are anything to go by, Songs For The Spine looks set to outperform their 2023 debut, which peaked at No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart.
The Roystone Club’s fanbase has continued to swell, particularly among Gen Z listeners who pack out their shows and know every lyric. The band will play the main stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals this summer, with most dates on their autumn UK tour already sold out.
In a year where commercial momentus and emotional songwriting rarely align, ‘Cariad’ might just be the track that shifts The Royston Club into even broader territory.
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