Royal Blood on the video and meaning of ‘Typhoons’: “Everyone can get lost in their own mind”

Royal Blood have shared the video for new single and album title track ‘Typhoons’, a song that they say is about “being lost in your own thoughts”. Check out our video interview with frontman Mike Kerr above.

After launching their third album with lead single ‘Trouble’s Coming‘, last week saw the Brighton rock duo share follow-up ‘Typhoons‘ – a track that sees Kerr face up to “dark spells” in his mind, and find a bright and hopeful route out.

“With the subject matter of this song, it brought a lot of the themes of the record together,” Kerr told NME. “A lot of the songs on album tackle this idea of being lost in your own thoughts, and how consuming that can really be. I think ‘Typhoons’ made it really clear that when a thought or an idea takes over, you are lost in that. It does feel like it can go on forever, but it’s also about knowing that it can’t go on forever. It’s not permanent – it can’t be.”

He continued: “I think that’s just part of being a human being. I think everyone can get lost in their own mind, and they can have dark spells in their own mind. I’ve experienced them, you’ve experienced them, we all have. I wanted to write a song that recognised them, but was also uplifting and empowering – knowing that if you are going through that, it will end at some point. It will pass.”

The new video was directed by  Quentin Deronzier (famed for his work with Drake and Kanye West) and sees Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher playing around a whirlwind of fans before a stormy London skyline.

“It’s pretty literal, but it was another way of demonstrating that violent and cyclical never-ending storm,” said Kerr. “It also felt like a good excuse for us to be playing in the middle of it as well. Without live shows, it felt important to be performing and for us to at least feel like we could be a part of it.

“In a way, the reason we make records is to go out and play live shows. To have that taken away feels strange. Weirdly, as a result of what’s going on right now, I feel like it made a much better record.”

The song ‘Typhoons’ came together in just three days after they thought that they’d finished the album, but the impulsive swagger of the song “exploded out of the speakers” and felt in keeping with the dance-driven nature of the rest of the record.

“Funk – that word scares me a little bit, but it’s definitely got more of a danceability and fun to it, compared to records we’ve made in the past,” said Kerr. “Once we made ‘Trouble’s Coming’, it’s very difficult to stop making music that felt like that. It’s a very good time.”

• READ MORE: Royal Blood tell us about ‘Trouble’s Coming’ and their new album: “We’re seeing in colour for the first time”

Kerr added: “We had a unique experience making it, because usually you go in, track a record, then you’re done and you go on tour. You only really have time to reflect and know what you’ve made much later on, whereas making this record was so patchy and very start-stop, that it gave us this unique perspective as part of the process.

“We really miss playing live. Like with ‘Typhoons’, we need to have the knowledge that this isn’t going to last forever and live shows will come back. When they do, I feel like we’ve written the perfect album. It’s a celebration.”

Royal Blood release ‘Typhoons’ on April 30.

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• Student Minds – empowering students and the university community to look after their mental health
• ‘Am I depressed?‘ – Help and advice on mental health and what to do next
• YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
• CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably
• Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
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