The Royal Ritual gets deeply personal, reflective and re-inventive on sophomore album Pleasure Hides Your Needs
As disruptive as it was, the pandemic didn’t stop The Royal Ritual - the dark/alternative outfit fronted by UK-born musician, composer and producer David Lawrie - from making a dramatic impact on the alternative music scene with the MARTYRS album.
The project’s new album Pleasure Hides Your Needs simultaneously expands upon and reorients from the cinematic, dark, industrial soundscapes of the debut release.
Producer and frontman David trained as a classical pianist from the age of 7 and has worked in the music industry for many years, but The Royal Ritual was born just before the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Initially the project was a studio-based affair, with the debut album MARTYRS being produced in complete isolation in Lawrie’s private studio in Northern California.
Blending harsh synthetic tones; dark, percussive sound design; and traditional world instruments, a new industrial landscape was forged in The Royal Ritual, with the debut release being well-received by both the wider music press and the goth and industrial music communities.
Despite the act’s relatively short life thus far, The Royal Ritual has already developed a dedicated following, finding favour with fans of artists like IAMX, Gary Numan, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, New Model Army and HEALTH.
The intervening years have seen David relocate to the UK to concentrate on making his own music as well as working with artists like CocoRosie, Phildel, and IAMX as a producer and remixer. His remix of the title track of IAMX’s 2023 album Fault Lines even featured on the EP of the same name, released ahead of the album. David’s compositional work also includes award-winning sound design for the acclaimed film Of Shark and Man.
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