Dynamic duo Royal Chant have begun spreading the word that their 8th studio album is in the can, and if there was any doubt that these mainstays of Australia’s DIY scene were beginning to lose any motivation or inspiration let that doubt be forever removed with their brand-new single, ‘Big Mood’.

Premiering today, and releasing officially on Friday, 2nd April, Royal Chant has also declared that 100% of Bandcamp proceeds from the sale of the single will be going to the very much deserving Australian Koala Foundation, and, quite frankly: empathy is the biggest mood of all.

In its sprawling soundscape of dabbled riffage and piques of snare that breach the clouds, Big Mood is many things and different times and all at once. It’s as if The Monkees covered The Pogues, or current R.E.M covered Old R.E.M, and left plenty of fuzz on the track.

Dust is yet to settle on the Royal Chant’s erstwhile release, 2020’s Blank Verse, but as the groups’ fans know, this is a band that deals in both quality AND quantity.

A ‘Big Mood’ by both name and nature, the song is far more of a ‘mood piece’ than just an assortment of pleasant sounds. You don’t just listen to it, you stand in it – like an unrushed saunter in the rain.

The new audio is also accompanied with a brand-new clip from the band, an assortment of old-timey clips from a mixture of film and animation. While the selection no doubt makes more sense to some out there, the seemingly random assortment invokes the feeling of scrolling through late-night television. An unrushed saunter in the rain on a quiet, sleepless night no less.

The band have confirmed that Album Eight will be titled Shoot The Messenger and will be ready for the masses as soon as Friday, 2nd July. The release will come through the bands’ own imprint, Dirty Mab Records.

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Tasked with protecting one of our most vulnerable native creature, the hard work of the Australian Koala Foundation cannot be overstated. Per their website, it’s estimated there could be as few as 43,000 koalas left in the country.

Now’s your chance to take a little, and give a bit more…

Watch: Royal Chant – Big Mood

YouTube VideoPlay

Saturday, April 3 

Royal Chant (supporting Phil Jamieson of Grinspoon)

Crowbar Sydney 

Doors at 6 PM

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