Royel Otis are back with “Sweet Hallelujah,” their first new release since hickey, and it lands right as they’re about to step into Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the first time.
They’re playing the Mojave Stage both weekends, with Weekend 2 set for Saturday, April 18 at 5:50 PM. That late afternoon Mojave slot is usually where things start to click for indie acts, not buried early, not fighting headliners yet, just a crowd that’s actually there to watch.
“Sweet Hallelujah” leans bigger than their older stuff without losing the looseness that made them work. It starts simple and then builds out, strings, percussion, everything opening up around it, but it never turns into something overblown. It still feels close, even when it gets wide.
There’s a push and pull in it that makes sense for where they’re at. It’s not a clean love song, not really a breakup either, more like sitting in the middle of something and not trying to resolve it too quickly.
The track’s produced by Shawn Everett, who’s worked with Julian Casablancas and The War on Drugs, and you can hear that shift. It’s fuller, more deliberate, but not trying to sand down what makes them interesting.
They’ve been moving steadily for a while now. Festival runs, constant touring, those covers that kept circulating, all of it stacking into something that feels a little more real now than just “next up” hype.
After Coachella, they’re right back out again, California dates, then straight into Europe and the UK, plus arena shows with Foo Fighters. No real gap, just momentum.
Weekend 2 is usually where sets tighten up, where bands adjust after the first run and actually lock in. If this song is any indication, they’re not coming in tentative.
“Sweet Hallelujah” is out now.
Featured image credit: Isaac Brown
