Come On Over — Royal Blood
The story behind Royal Blood’s track Come On Over intertwines nicely with the history of the band and how their sound evolved.
Back in 2015, when I was finishing up my Public Relations degree in London, Royal Blood was the topic of my final dissertation. At the time, the band was very active on Facebook and the members — Mike Kerr on vocals, bass and Ben Thatcher on drums — would post themselves and reply to comments from fans on a daily basis. For a band that had just had a number one album in the UK, their authenticity and down-to-earth-ness impressed me and I analysed their interactions on the social platform using the concepts of dialogic communitcation.
Two number one albums later, the band is no longer active on Facebook but they show their faces on Instagram occasionally and Ben is pretty active on Twitter. A lot has happened since my dissertation, but I want to take you back to the one of their first tracks Royal Blood recorded and in doing so we’ll learn a bit more about they became what they are nowadays.
Ladies and gentleman, Come On Over:
This track was released officially three times. It was firstly heard as a b-side to their single Out of the Black. Then, a four-track EP with the same name was released and it again featured Come On Over. And finally, it was released again in the band’s self-titled debut album on 21st April 2014. It didn’t always sound the same though, and we’re going to listen to a few versions throughout this article. But first, the lyrics!
Lets run away, get out of here
I got no money and I don’t care
This ain’t my house this ain’t your home
Not when I’m feeling this alone
- Lyrics to Come On Over by Royal Blood
The lyrics were writen by Mike and reflected the process he went through when he decided to leave the church he had been brought up in:
“Running away from the church was quite a big deal at the time to my friends and family. It was a personal decision based on my experience of it and how I felt about the philosophy of it.”
- Mike Kerr for NME (based on a mention found on Songfacts)
In an interview to Drowned in Sound (RIP), he also said that he had those lyrics for quite a long time and they were actually one of the first ideas that he took to Ben when they started playing together. In fact, the track came about even before Ben even joined the band:
This demo was recorded at the Rockfield Studios, in Wales, in 2011 with the early formation of Royal Blood. Mike Kerr and an Aussie drummer called Matt Swan met through a mutual friend in Brighton and started writing songs together, including an earlier version of Come On Over, at the time named Leaving.
You could say a version of Royal Bood was born then. In early 2012, Mike and Matt moved to Australia where they released an EP and toured together. At this point, Leaving even got some airplay on Triple J — which is a big, national radio station in Australia — but before the end of the year, Mike decided to return to the UK. It’s the end of Royal Blood as we knew up until then.
What happened next probably includes a bit of flourishing for the press but the story is that Ben picked up Mike from the airport as he was moving back from Australia and they decided to form the band there and then.
About this new beginning for Royal Blood, Mike says that it was quite hard to get gigs at the time. In an interview to Dorset Echo, he mentioned that they used to go to open mics in Worthing, his hometown, and just play with an acoustic guitar and drums. I had actually found a video on Youtube of one of these early performances but it has since been taken down. Thankfully, it was immortilised on the podcast version of this publication (RIP):
And the rest is history. The band had quite a meteoric rise after releasing the four-track EP Out of the Black in March 2014. Before they even released their debut album, they were touring all over the world and playing European festivals. Their debut album was released in August 2014 and it was deemed the fastest selling British rock debut album in three years in the UK.
I find that really interesting because this was in 2014 and I did my dissertation in 2015. It’s amazing how they were so big and still were so close to the fans speaking to them directly on Facebook. Nowadays, they are about to release a new album and you definitely won’t hear their new track Typhoons being played live with an acoustic guitar in a pub somewhere in England. Still, I really admire bands who have the guts to move — even if slightly— away from the sound they’re expected to make. I’m definitely looking forward to this album!
