Rochester’s Theatre Royal are back with their sixth studio album ‘A Change of Weather’. Recorded at Ranscombe Studios, the record was produced by fellow Medway soul Jim Riley and is released by the impeccable label Spinout Nuggets.
Image & artwork courtesy of the band.
Middle age comes to us all; how we choose to approach it remains a personal choice. Fortunately, motorbikes and affairs at Coldplay gigs are not for our Kent heroes. They’ve allowed life’s natural slowing-down process to filter into their songwriting to fine effect. There’s a reflective tone percolating throughout which, on ‘Saturday Son’, is not without its questioning of what they’re becoming. The angelic vocals from Oliver Burgess and the dreamlike guitars allow their uncertain rhetoric to swell with heightened poignancy.
Former single ‘Souvenir’ and album opener ‘In Time’ follow a similar pattern. The former, tinged with the stomp of classic R’n’B, Northern Soul and the bubble gum pop of the Lightning Seeds’ Ready or Not’ tackles not letting go of the past. ‘In Time’ leans into the estuary blues and greens warmth of their Medway peers The Claim, Beatles harmonies, and post-2010 Edwyn Collins as they eloquently explore being out of time.
In places, A Change of Weather turns to folk influences for the first time in their careers. On ‘Feet First’, they blend the whimsical pop of Noah & The Whale with the charm of Stornoway. Whereas, ‘Angelina’s strings evolve Portland’s Decemberists into a Kent countryside ramble. Both feel like a natural fit for Theatre Royal and raise the question: should they transition into the genre full-time?
Their archetypal sound has not disappeared, though. It still informs their twisting melodies throughout. ‘Feel A Lot Better’ and ‘Thrown Up Grown Up’ are both best with the riotous glee of former greats ‘Port Bou’ and ‘Locked Together On the Lines’. Then, on ‘Welsh Coastal Towns’, they serve up the album's finest moment and perhaps their best since ‘French Riviera 1988’. The frenetic jingle-jangle is accompanied by pulsating brass parts, taking them from The Jam to Phil Spector. It’s the romantic classic The Wedding Present forgot to write. The beauty and frustration of family holidays haven’t sounded this good since the Griswolds went to Walley World. Burgess’ prose and his vocal cadence are nostalgic, vital, and simply brilliant
Six albums in, the creative well has certainly not run dry. With the folk influences creeping in, it feels like a fresh start for one the UK’s hidden treasures. If there was any justice in the world, recognition would go beyond the iconic John Kennedy and Steve Lamacq as it is, those who know, know. Those who don’t, should.