Trouble's Coming

"Trouble's Coming"
Single by Royal Blood
from the album Typhoons
Released24 September 2020 (2020-09-24)
Recorded2020
Genre
Length3:48
LabelWarner
Composer(s)
  • Mike Kerr
  • Ben Thatcher
Lyricist(s)Mike Kerr
Producer(s)
  • Royal Blood
  • Paul Epworth
Royal Blood singles chronology
"Look Like You Know"
(2018) 		"Trouble's Coming"
(2020) 		"Typhoons"
(2021)

"Trouble's Coming" is a song by English rock band Royal Blood, the opening track on their third studio album, Typhoons (2021). It was released as the album's lead single on 24 September 2020. It reached No. 8 in Scotland and No. 46 in the United Kingdom. On Billboard genre-specific charts, it reached No. 1 on the Canada Rock chart and No. 29 on the US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.

Background and composition

English rock duo Royal Blood released their second studio album, How Did We Get So Dark?, on 16 June 2017.[4] While touring to support this album, vocalist and bassist Mike Kerr struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction, and he decided to become sober in early 2019.[5] That July, Kerr told NME that Royal Blood was in the process of recording a new album, but that they were "not in a rush to put out something that's mediocre".[6] In the process of writing new music, Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher wanted to create a new sound, and they began to incorporate dance music elements into their songs.[1]

Release and promotion

Royal Blood first teased their upcoming release on 17 September 2020, when the band posted a photo of a vintage, orange-colored Ford car to their Twitter and Instagram accounts. The vehicle's license plate read "ROYAL", while the post was captioned "24.09".[7] On 21 September, the band posted a snippet of "Trouble's Coming" on Instagram and announced that the full track would be released three days later.[8]

The song was later used in the soundtracks for Dirt 5, FIFA 21, NHL 21, Forza Horizon 5, The Crew Motorfest and NASCAR 21: Ignition.[9][10][11] The song was used in the second episode of the second season of the Netflix series Locke & Key and in the ninth episode of the sixth season of The Good Doctor, along with the fifth episode of the first season of The Company You Keep.

Since 2024 this has been used on Gladiators as the entrance theme for Viper

On 19 November 2020, the band performed the song on The Late Late Show with James Corden.[12]

Critical reception

Alex Mace of Platform Magazine reviewed the song positively, giving it an 8.5/10 rating. Mace described the song as a "big, glossy dance jam", and that the song was "[p]roof that Royal Blood can indeed do something different and do it well".[13] Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone and Ben Kaye of Consequence of Sound both noted the dance influences in Trouble's Coming, with Blistein describing the song as the band injecting "a bit of dancefloor energy into their hard rock sound",[3] and Kaye describing the song as a "dance floor stomper".[14]

Music video

The music video for "Trouble's Coming" was premiered on 23 October 2020 and was directed by Dir. Lx.[15]

Track listing

  • 7"
  • digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Trouble's Coming"3:48
Digital download – remix
No.TitleLength
1."Trouble's Coming" (Purple Disco Machine remix)4:25

Charts

References

  1. ^ a b Trendell, Andrew (24 September 2020). "Royal Blood tell us about 'Trouble's Coming' and their new album: 'We're seeing in colour for the first time'". NME. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b "30 Most Anticipated Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2021". Consequence of Sound. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b Jon Blistein (24 September 2020). "Royal Blood Return With Dance-Inspired 'Trouble's Coming'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Stream The New Royal Blood Album, How Did We Get So Dark?". Kerrang!. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  5. ^ Trendell, Andrew (16 April 2021). "Royal Blood: 'Without sobriety, this album or this band wouldn't exist. It was all quite scary'". NME. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  6. ^ Trendell, Andrew (24 July 2019). "Exclusive - Royal Blood on their 2019 plans and comeback tour: 'We've got some monsters up our sleeves'". NME. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  7. ^ Jones, Damian (17 September 2020). "Royal Blood share cryptic photo featuring vintage Ford vehicle". NME. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  8. ^ Richards, Will (21 September 2020). "Royal Blood to return with new single 'Trouble's Coming' this week". NME. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  9. ^ Electronic Arts. "FIFA 21 Soundtrack - EA SPORTS Official Site". Ea.com. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Check-out-these-sonic-artists". 10 October 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  11. ^ Forza Horizon 5 Full Official Soundtrack List Revealed"
  12. ^ "Watch Royal Blood perform 'Trouble's Coming' live". NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Single Review: Royal Blood - Trouble's Coming". Platform Magazine. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  14. ^ Kaye, Ben (24 September 2020). "Stream Royal Blood's New Single "Trouble's Coming"". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Royal Blood - Trouble's Coming (Official Video)". YouTube. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Royal Blood – Trouble's Coming" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Royal Blood – Trouble's Coming" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Canada All Format (Royal Blood)". Billboard.
  19. ^ "Royal Blood Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard.
  20. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  21. ^ "Schweizer Airplay Charts 03/2021 - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  22. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  23. ^ "Royal Blood Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard.
  24. ^ "Royal Blood Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard.
  25. ^ "Hot Rock & Alternative Songs – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Rock Airplay Songs – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved 2 December 2021.