Album review: Palaye Royale – Fever Dream

On the 2020 concept album, The Bastards, Palaye Royale carried on laying the foundations for their lofty ambitions. While it showcased a band carving out their own niche, it didn’t reach the heights of their full potential. Fast-forward over two years, and we are met with a band who have ripped out the bits that didn’t land so well and put their attention into the parts they’re masters of.

What they have created in over 50 minutes is deliciously bold, stratospheric rock songs brimming with optimism, ambition, and euphoria. From start to finish, it is authentically Palaye Royale with their distinct swagger being a blueprint to their art-punk meets stadium rock.

Opener Eternal Life teeters on the very edges of Britpop, with Remington Leith’s screeches met with bouncy riffs backed by trance-like electronics, whilst sprinkled in this stadium-filling dust. No Love In La carries this feeling forward with an almost Backstreet Boys-esque chorus aided by crunching riffs – it is a pure rock-pop bop. Optimism is clearly the overriding feeling on this record, even with the darker lyrical material on Punching Bag showing the more vulnerable moments, musically it’s still positively uplifting.

The five-minute epic of the title-track is their crowning glory here, and will no doubt become their anthem, draped as it is in pure rock’n’roll theatre. From the rasps of Remington, to its rapturous guitar solo, it is truly operatic in nature and dare we say it, their very own Black Parade moment. It all comes to a dramatic crescendo with the final hurrah of King Of The Damned and Off With The Head bringing a grandiose climax.

Fever Dream is Palaye Royale’s defining moment. After years of dedication to their craft, we’re now seeing these three brothers reach the promised land of their outlet. If you were a non-believer before, that’s all about to change.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: My Chemical Romance, Måneskin, The Struts

Fever Dream is out now via Sumerian