Review: Songs For The Spine - The Royston Club

---

By Elke Smits I august 2025

The new album created by the Welsh band The Royston Club – released on 9 August 2025 – called “Songs For The Spine”, is an amazing album full of deep lyrics and magical instrumentals. After their first album, “Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars”, was released in 2023, they worked hard on their second compilation. 

Releasing multiple singles before dropping the complete tracklist, The Royston Club seems to have gained fame before the album was even out. Especially “The Patch Where Nothing Grows” seems to grab the listeners attention with currently over 2 million streams. The Royston Club is reaching its prime as we speak, while doing a festival tour and a couple of intimate shows in the UK to celebrate the release of “Songs For The Spine”. After that, they are set to go on tour around Europe and the UK this fall, so make sure to get your tickets! 

cover art "songs for the spine"

With Tom Faithfull as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Ben Matthias as lead guitarist and songwriter, Dave Tute on the bass and Sam Jones on the drums, they created this incredible album which starts off with the track “Shivers”. This song is the perfect start of the album, building up tension during the entirety of the song. I especially love the part where Tom Faithfull sings “Heroine, heroine / where have you been?”, which surely gives me goosebumps – but this might also be a result of the minor keys that Ben Matthias used while songwriting this track. I think the minor keys are what distinguishes the track from others on the album – and even though “Shivers” was already released before the album release, it still rocks! 

Going from “Shivers” to “The Patch Where Nothing Grows”, the song starts with a recognizable riff that makes you want to keep listening. Not once, but all over again. As I stated before, this track was already a hit before the album was released – a festival setlist opener that appeared to grab everyone’s attention. In my interpretation, this song is about a type of love that the narrator tries to achieve, but does not seem to succeed at doing so. The lines “Singin’ with my chest pushed out / heart against the thorny branch / diggin’ in and hoping for a rose” relate to the narrator trying to find love. However, the following lines “I’ll fall gently in this grove / in the patch where nothing grows” seem to indicate that he does not succeed in finding it. The rose -- in this case -- being the so-called love. 

The third track, “Crowbar”, is the first appearance on the album that was not released beforehand. Nevertheless, this does not take away the fact that this tune is absolutely amazing. The song is incredible and definitely earned its wait. The bridge of the song deserves – in my opinion – a Grammy on its own. Especially the lines “stood right where you left me / peering into the abyss / like a puppet with a string / watch me crumble to my knees” seem to scratch something in my brain that I cannot put into words, it is so incredibly well written. Lyrically, it seems to be about a complicated relationship. The words “We stagnate, we fall down / Oh God, I’ll miss it when it’s gone” picture the ups and downs in their relationship, but also the desperation for not wanting it to end. 

“Glued To The Bed” is the fourth song on the “Songs For The Spine” album. This track is clearly about a bad break-up, where the narrator falls into some kind of depression. The rough sound and angry voice makes the song less emotional and gives it more of a frustrating sound. However, this does not take away the deeply emotional lyrics, which lots of people can relate to. The line “A consolation endlessly reminding me that I’m no better off” feels like a punch in the face. This track was already out before the album release and I personally streamed this song over and over again. It still has me in a chokehold and I feel like I can release my anger while screaming with the lyrics. I feel like I personally relate to this song, which makes it even more special to me. I can not wait to experience this tune live again. 

“Cariad”, which is Welsh for “darling” or “sweetheart”, is the fifth track on the album. The song starts off slowly, but eventually builds up into anger. This track is quite literally insane; the chorus is full of emotion due to the synchronizing vocals and instrumentals that The Royston Club seems to pull off in every single one of their songs. Lyrically, this tune sounds like another break-up song. “My eyes burn holes through pictures of you and I, Cariad I miss you all the time” is certainly one of the catchiest lines in the song. The yearning sound of desperation in combination with the heavy guitar sound makes my stomach drop. Not only does the chorus have some gut-wrenching lyrics, but the bridge line “Cariad, indulge in this sin / I need your delicate fingers tracing my outline again”, is just as well-executed. I am so obsessed with this song and it is definitely one of my favorites of this album. I also adore the way they include words from their native language.

Going onto “30/20” I read a previous article where the lead guitarist and songwriter, Ben Matthias, explained the meaning of the song. He expressed that he felt bad about not being home a lot, and that this feeling reached its peak when he drove 30 mph in a 20 mph zone, that had changed to 20 mph when he was away in England – therefore, the title “30/20”. You clearly see this reflected in the lyrics, “Guilt surrounds the limits changing / I feel estranged speeding over it”. The song comes to life from the first riffs played. I also think – regardless of the meaning of this track – that this feels more like a fun, danceable song, rather than an emotional one, based on the other tracks on this album. It is a song you would especially play during a time with your friends, drinking a pint of beer at a pub. The song comes to an end in some kind of scream and this definitely gives off a final touch of roughness.

After my first time listening to “Spinning” – the seventh track on “Songs For The Spine” – an impassioned feeling flooded me. Its acoustic sound makes the song have more sentiment, and I highly appreciate this. At the same time, it sounds whimsy and at first, it sounded like a ‘coming to terms with something’ song. However, the vulnerable lyrics seem to portray the narrator being in a spiral of anxious thoughts: “Caught in between the lines of text / too young to die, but no fight left / You scream inside a hurricane / a spiral that I just can’t explain”. The whole track is kind of calm, but while nearing the end, there seems to be some kind of crash-out, which gives extra energy to the track. The gut-wrenching lyrics were definitely created to evoke an emotional rollercoaster, which worked incredibly well. Good job TRC. 

Something that stands out in this album is when Tom Faithfull (lead singer) concludes a chorus or verse, the instrumentals slow down so that the lyrics are more noticeable. You hear this once again in “Songs For The Spine’s” eighth track called “Through The Cracks”. Yet again, this is another amazing tune on the album. The lyrics seem to be about heartbreak and identity, particularly visible in the lyrics “Intuition leads me to believe I'm wrong / you said that you’d be home last night” and “Every time that I wait for something to fall into my path / I'm left wondering where I could be”. The song is beautiful and I honestly struggle to explain what this song does to me. I love the sound of the guitar – which appears slightly different than the other tracks – in combination with Tom Faithfull’s voice. Now that I think about it, this tune gives off vibes similar to a The Strokes song, which, as a fan, I certainly do not mind at all. 

Going on to the second-last song of the album called “Curses & Spit”, this track resembles a childhood friendship and the lines “Joe, I can hear us laughing about / Wee little kids just running around” cut deep. Both friends seem to look back at the friendship and it appears that they miss each other during hard times – “Because, the days, they just sting / When all your curses and spit fall short” – that is, at least, what my interpretation of the song is. I love how there is some diversity in this song, for example the vocals of Ben Matthias, who is usually just the lead guitarist. I also adore how TRC tries to explore new sounds, which is noticeable in many of their new songs, including “Curses & Spit”. 

The last song on the album is called “The Ballad of Glenn Campbell”. The intro of the track already gives off the vibe that the album is ending. The long intro, accompanied by the backing vocals and slow instruments, already seem like an amazing closing track for “Songs for The Spine”. Additionally, the fact that the song lasts about six minutes gives that away. The vocals start slowly, followed by the sound of piano keys. I cherish this particularly because we have not heard that a lot within The Royston Club’s discography this far. The long outro includes a voice talking in – which seems to be a radio, giving one last blast before the album comes to an end. In an interview, Tom Faithfull stated that after finishing writing this song, they felt like they were in fact making an album, and I think that is beautiful. 

All together, “Songs For A Spine” is a great follow up after their first album, “Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars”. Not only in composing incredible emotional and energetic songs that portray love, identity and friendship amazingly well, but also exploring new sounds and succeeding in that. “Songs For A Spine” by the Welsh band is definitely a 10/10 album for me, and I am already getting excited for more music in the future. 

Make sure to give the album a listen on streaming sites or buy their physical media on their website while they are still in stock!