These Reigning Days: Opera of Love
Album release: “Opera of Love” by These Reigning Days
Release date: 22 September 2014
Label: Ecco
Listen: on official website
“Supple, layered rock with a taste for the epic. Pulsating electro shadings subtly counter the dazed guitar and transcendent lyrics” - Daily Mirror
“An incredible band” – BBC Introducing
Two years of continual touring will make or break a band. For Devon’s These Reigning Days it looks to be the former. Life on the road seemingly suits this ambitious trio, having recently enjoyed support slots with Metronomy, festival appearances at Glastonbury, Hop Farm, Liverpool Sound City and Boardmasters, as well as an appearance in front of 60,000 fans at Milan’s San Siro Stadium, which consequently nudged their track ‘Too Late’ to the top of the Italian charts. This summer they hit the road in the UK and Europe (also taking in Vladivostock Rocks in Eastern Russia and Emerge in Mumbai, Dehli and Bangalore) in support of their debut album ‘Opera Of Love’.
With an ear for melodic rock and an eye on the mainstream, Opera Of Love, produced by Yoad Nevo (Goldfrapp, Moby) with additional production and mix by Ade Bushby (Muse, Foo Fighters) on Opera Of Love, Changes and Living It Up, the album finds These Reigning Days in conquering form, harnessing as they do the band’s live spirit and momentum. The album’s opener, Stand Down, sets the pace, all purposeful rhythms and robust guitar work paving the way for former single, Too Late, a track that channels the urgency of White Lies and Editors while pacing toward its sky-high chorus. Punctuated with thoughtful interludes, it rarely lets up, guided all the while by lead vocalist / guitarist Dan Steer’s keen ear for melody.
The album’s title track is released on July 21 and marks the record’s centerpiece. No other track defines the band quite like this one. Forceful and full of momentum, it’s followed by the introspective I Need Time, and The Killers-esque stomp of Living It Up.
Opera Of Love is the sound of a band reaching for the top. As one fan puts it “They’re Coldplay with balls and a stiff drink instead of world peace and green tea”. Quite.
These Reigning Days is Dan Steer Songwriter, lead vocals, guitar, keys; Joe Sansome, drums; Jonny Finnis, bass, vocals.