ROYEL OTIS RETURN WITH SOARING NEW SINGLE “SWEET HALLELUJAH”
SONG PREMIERED AS BBC RADIO 1’S HOTTEST RECORD IN THE WORLD — LISTEN HERE
THE DUO PLAYS COACHELLA TOMORROW, FOLLOWED BY EU/UK HEADLINING TOUR WHICH INCLUDES SUPPORT ON SELECT FOO FIGHTERS ARENA DATES
10 APRIL 2026 (TORONTO, ON) — Today, ascendent Aussie duo Royel Otis release their first new single following their acclaimed 2025 album, hickey. The song had an exclusive premiere this morning as BBC Radio 1’s “Hottest Record in The World” track. Out now via OURNESS / Capitol Records, “Sweet Hallelujah” builds on the band’s signature slack style while sounding like nothing they’ve done before: orchestrally backed indie-rock as intimate as it is epic. Listen HERE.
The momentous song fittingly rings in Royel Otis’ debut showing at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival — they play the Mojave stage Saturday April 11 and 18 — following their March sweep through the Argentina, Chile, and Brazil editions of Lollapalooza. They’ll then proceed to Europe and the U.K. for a mix of headliners, festival stops, and arena dates supporting Foo Fighters. Find their itinerary below, and additional info at https://www.royelotis.com/tour/.
“Sweet Hallelujah” begs to be experienced live. As the track starts, Otis Pavlovic plays a driving tabla rhythm and Royel Maddell strums his guitar hard against a surging backdrop of strings, pinging keys, and drums. The sound continues to grow, mixing the singalong ease of a campfire jam with the grandeur of a music hall production, as Otis sings of an overwhelming force: “Only fools say love is blind, have you seen her face? / She’s so fine it blows my mind all the time, and shakes my brain.” It’s a statement piece, where beauty and the fleeting nature thereof collide.
“It’s a love letter of goodbye to someone you want to know that no matter what happens things won’t change the way you feel about them.” says Royel Otis about their new single, which was produced by Shawn Everett (Julian Casablancas, The War on Drugs).
Royel Otis are barrelling ahead after entering 2026 on Vevo DSCVR’s “Artists to Watch” list — see in-studio performances of fan-favorites “shut up” and “come on home” — and also landing the #5 slot on BBC Radio 1’s prestigious Sound of 2026 lineup, whose voting panel includes known Royel Otis fan Sir Elton John. The band also sat down for an interview with the BBC, but they’ve been on tour nonstop these past months, with stops in Asia, Australia, and Latin America.
The flurry of activity follows the August release of the furiously buzzing pair’s second album hickey (OURNESS / Capitol Records), which was nominated for Best Rock Album at Australia’s 2025 ARIA Music Awards and has racked up significant acclaim. NME called the LP “a sun-kissed exploration of young adulthood [with] strong hooks and cosmic instrumentals.” Billboard noted that the 13-song set is “dreamy with hints of psychedelic pop, nostalgic twists, and the stuff that gets parties started.” Paste found it “fresh and compelling,” while Clash praised the “flawless vibes.”
hickey’s lead single “moody” spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart and was ranked among NPR’s Best Songs of 2025. The album also came with a music video for “who's your boyfriend” featuring Lola Tung, the star of the Amazon Prime series The Summer I Turned Pretty. Bringing it full circle, Royel Otis’ viral cover of The Cranberries’ 1993 hit “Linger” made it into a key Summer episode — read about it in Teen Vogue. More recently, “who’s your boyfriend” appeared on the soundtrack for the iconic slasher flick Scream 7.
The duo spent much of 2025 on the road, racking up raves for their appearances at festivals like Reading, Leeds, Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, and Fuji Rock. They threw pop-up shows en route and even played to fans stuck outside. They also launched their “meet me in the car” tour, which runs deep into 2026. While on a brief break in December, Otis was called onstage at Perth’s RAC Arena by Lewis Capaldi to perform Royel Otis song, “Til the Morning.”
Along the way, Royel Otis brought their live chemistry to small screens, too, beginning with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where they played the single “say something.” They’ve since popped into Amazon Music (“dancing with myself”), The Zane Lowe Show (“i hate this tune”), and SiriusXM’s Alt Nation (covering Dido’s “White Flag”). Among their greatest honors, though, was being invited to the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025 stage to perform “Linger” with The Cranberries’ Noel Hogan in tribute to the late, great Dolores O’Riordan — watch HERE.
Royel Otis 2026 live dates
* supporting Foo Fighters
Apr 10 - 12 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
Apr 13 – Del Mar, CA @ The Sound at Del Mar [SOLD OUT]
Apr 16 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
Apr 17 - 19 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
Jun 5 - 6 – Trondheim, Norway @ Neon Festival
Jun 8 – Gothenburg, Sweden @ Gothenburg Film Studios
Jun 10 – Oslo, Norway @ Unity Arena *
Jun 12 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Strawberry Arena *
Jun 14 – Helsinki, Finland @ Allas Live
Jun 15 – Warsaw, Poland @ PGE Narodowy *
Jun 17 - 18 – Kufstein, Austria @ Festung Kufstein
Jun 19 – Scheeßel, NDS @ Hurricane Festival
Jun 19 - 21 – Landgraaf, LI @ Pinkpop Festival
Jun 20 – Neuhausen ob Eck, BW @ Southside Festival
Jun 23 – Dublin, Ireland @ Fairview Park
Jun 24 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy Birmingham
Jun 25 – Halifax, UK @ The Piece Hall
Jun 27 – Liverpool, UK @ Anfield Stadium *
Jun 27 - Jul 4 – Roskilde, Zealand @ Roskilde Festival
Jun 28 – Bristol, UK @ Canons Marsh Amphitheatre
Jun 30 – Groningen, Netherlands @ De Oosterpoort [SOLD OUT]
Jul 1 - 5 – Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France @ Château de Beauregard
Jul 2 - 5 – Rotselaar, Flanders @ Rock Werchter
Jul 13 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed Outdoors [SOLD OUT]
Jul 14 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed Outdoors
Jul 16 – Ottawa, Ontario @ Ottawa Bluesfest
Jul 17 – Quebec City, Quebec @ Festival d'été de Québec
Jul 18 – Brooklyn, NY @ BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park
Jul 19 – Marshfield, MA @ Levitate Music and Arts Festival
ABOUT ROYEL OTIS:
Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic’s chance meeting feels almost destined. They were both working at bars and cafes in Australia’s Byron Bay before getting together one day in 2019 with their guitars and some song sketches. And without any expectations, they soon spotted it: an unspoken chemistry that resulted in effortless rock wonders, new tunes that somehow seemed as if they’d always existed. The rest of the world would soon catch on when the pair became true breakout acts both online and in rock clubs alike with early charmers such as “Oysters in My Pocket” (Bar & Grill EP, 2022) and “Sofa King” (Going Kokomo EP, 2023). Then came their soaring debut album called PRATTS & PAIN and the legendary run that catapulted the band to indie-rock fame, globally. The album was named for the south London pub where the pair would pen lyrics between sessions with GRAMMY-nominated Dan Carey (Wet Leg, Fontaines D.C., Caroline Polachek) and bore hits like “Fried Rice” and “Foam.” Preceding the album’s release in February of 2024, was the pair’s Triple J “Like A Version” recording, taking on Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on The Dancefloor.” The performance became a zeitgeist-shaping hit, eventually hitting #1 on Alternative U.S. Radio Chart, #2 on Billboard Alternative Airplay, #5 on Billboard Rock & Alternative, and climbing to #2 position on Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2024 charts. Their twilit cover of the Cranberries’ “Linger,” cut for a Sirius XM Session a few months later, led the band to their first Billboard Hot 100 hit and currently has over 220 million global streams. With the demand for live shows at a high, the guys played more than 100 sold-out gigs the rest of 2024, selling over 100,000 tickets across Australia, the U.K., Europe, and the U.S. This included multiple nights in major cities like New York (Brooklyn Steel), Chicago (Metro, The Salt Shed) and Los Angeles (The Bellwether, Palladium). The pair returned home later that year as one of the most nominated artists at the 2024 ARIA Awards (Australia’s biggest and prestigious music award shows); and went on to win four awards including “Best Rock Album” and “Best Group.” Since their formation, Royel Otis have drawn from an endless source of good hooks and spirit — riding on a musical chemistry that manifests as mixes of melody and bittersweet humor. Whether it is an original body of work or remaking their favorite song, the pair have cemented their status as one of the most effortless and endearing indie rock bands to emerge this decade.
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