Photo Credit: Sam Crowston

Two years on from their Top 20 debut Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars, The Royston Club return with Songs For The Spine, a second record that sharpens their sound and emonstrates the band’s brilliance in all its entirety. Where their debut leaned into the urgency of youth, this album pauses to take stock, diving into heartbreak, identity, and the people and places that anchor us when everything else is shifting.

The album opens with ‘Shivers’, a track that starts with a slow, moody build reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain before carving out its own identity. Right away it’s clear this isn’t just another indie-rock record, The Royston Club are pushing the genre forward on their own terms. 

The lead single ‘The Patch Where Nothing Grows’ follows, showcasing the band’s knack for pairing memorable guitar work with hardhitting songwriting. The track remains a fan favourite by providing one of the record’s most immediately satisfying moments. On ‘Crowbar’, the energy is darker and more tangled. Lyrics like “I quip my feet just to be met by your quicksand” suggest a relationship that feels more like a trap than a comfort. Like ‘Glued To The Bed’, it’s one of the most guitar-heavy tracks on the album and serves as a reminder of the band’s indie rock roots.

But Songs For The Spine isn’t just volume and velocity. There’s real emotional weight here, often found in the album’s quieter moments like the recent single ‘Cariad’. Meaning “love” in Welsh, its melody unfolds gradually, leading into a bridge that’s as cathartic as it is heartbreaking. Already loved by fans at live shows, its official release more than delivers.

The album shifts gears with ‘30-20’, which introduces more urgent energy. The song’s drums and layered guitars signal a turning point, reflecting progress and tentative hope after emotional turmoil. ‘Spinning’ and ‘Through The Cracks’ continue this thread, peeling back the band’s louder tendencies in favour of more exposed, guitar-led storytelling. If the earlier tracks left any doubt, these ones make it clear just how far the Wrexham lads have come in the past two years.

Among the grittier, guitar led tracks there’s also a newfound sense of experimentation, especially in ‘Curses & Spit’ and ‘The Ballad of Glen Campbell’. The latter is the album’s longest track, a stunning outlier that closes the record on a grander scale. Unfolding from a gentle piano line into a sweeping final act. It’s a fitting finale which shows the band at their most ambitious.

What Songs For The Spine does best is capture emotional truths without drowning in cliché. It’s never melodramatic. It’s born from lived moments, late-night spirals, and those lingering relationship afterthoughts which are all consuming. The Royston Club have delivered a second album that feels stronger, smarter, and more emotionally ambitious than their debut. With this record it is clear the lads have found their voice, and it’s impossible to ignore. 

Songs For The Spine is out 8th August and available to preorder now.