Royel Otis with Lottery Winners

Royel Otis is a band made up of Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic. Royel plays guitar. Otis sings. Together, they make deceptively simple, emotionally loaded anthems built for sunny beers, sweaty dance floors and the slow-burn courage required for a first kiss.

The pair grew up around Bondi Beach, meeting while working odd jobs in the bars and cafes that line the area. They landed in the studio as almest strangers, quickly realising they shared a knack for bright melodies, razor-sharp hooks and songs that feel like a hit of nostalgia. Their sound channels the excitement of firsts: first gig, first crush, first hickey. lt's warm, addictive and instantly recognisable.

They broke through with their debut album PRATTS & PAIN, alongside their viral covers of The Cranberries' Linger and Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Murder on the Dancefloor. Their version of Murder on the Dancefloor hit#1 on the US Alternative Airplay Chart, while their Linger cover collected more than 220 million global streams and earned the band their first Billboard Hot 100 entry. Original tracks like Oysters in My Pocket and Sofa King followed suit, picking up hundreds of millions of streams and constant momentum on TikTok. Critics took note too, with Zane Lowe calling them "nuts, just NUTS," and outlets like Billboard, NM E, Rolling Stone, NPR and Clash championing their rise.

Last year marked their true breakout. They played major festivals including Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Reading & Leeds, Fuji Rock, Outside Lands, Osheaga, Mad Cool and a 2026 Coachella appearance on the way. They sold more than 250,000 tickets worldwide, including a fully sold-out US headline run, back-to-back sold-out shows in New York and Toronto, and packed nights in Boston. In the UK, they sold out three 02 Brixton Academy shows in London and two 02 Manchester Academy shows. They also made appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallen, Jimmy Kimmel Live, BBC Radio 1 's Live Lounge and Zane Lowe's Apple Music show.

Their live reputation keeps growing. Onstage, their dynamic feels effortless. They move like two friends with one shared pulse, locking in with the crowd until the whole room feels synced. "We just want to make people dance together," says Otis. "Everyone's invited."

That energy shaped their new album hickey. The record is a cleaner, sharper and more confident chapter. lt's romantic and a bit naughty, as Royel puts it, because "love bites harder than any other emotion." Songs like moody hit#1 on both the US AAA Mediabase and Billboard charts for more than seven weeks, making them the first new act to reach #1 in 2025. The track also landed A-List rotation on BBC 6 Music, while car earned the BBC Radio 1 Hottest Record and weeks on the B-List. Across the board, they've scored more than a billion streams globally, 150 million of them in the UK alone. They now sit at 12.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify and more than half a million followers on the platform.

Working alongside Omar Fedi, Amy Allen, Blake Slatkin, Juli an Bunetta, Lydia Kitto, Josh Lloyd-Watson (Jungle) and longtime collaborator Chris Collins, they pushed their songwriting into a more direct, open space. Tracks like say something and car blend jangly guitars with loose, sun-dazed rhythms that feel like late afternoons on the beach. The record is full of those sensory touches.
But the album isn't all sunshine. Songs like i hate this tune and who's your boyfriend trace the edges of heartbreak, uncertainty and early-twenties chaos. That contrast gives hickey its shape. lt feels lived-in, a little bruised and totally sure of itself.

Alongside the music, their visual output has exploded. They've recorded sessions for Amazon Music, VEVO DSCVR, Mahogany, KROQ Soundspace, Sirius XM and more. They were named Amazon Breakthrough Artist of the Year and VEVO DSCVR Artist to Watch.

With hickey, Royel Otis cement themselves as one of the most exciting new names in indie rock. The confidence is real. And if the past year is anything to go by, this is just the beginning. Let's just say the mark they're leaving isn't fading anytime soon.