Over the years, Ra Black & Andrew Armstrong AKA Monarchy have become one of pop music’s most exciting duos with their own unique brand of euphoric synth-pop. Throughout their career, the London-based band have garnered numerous accolades and achievements including releasing 2 LPs (Around the Sun in 2011 & Abnocto in 2015), racking up millions of streams worldwide and performing headline shows in Berlin, Madrid, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Seoul and Moscow.
Now the dynamic duo are back with their anticipated third LP Mid:Night – comprising of 8 distinctive vocal-led tracks which explore a variety of themes such as sex, love, lust, conflict and classism set to a playful, uplifting and undeniably catchy sound.
«We got bored of being moody and serious, and wanted to have some fun», says the duo. «In a way, I feel we’ve gone full circle, and we’ve gone back to the sound of our very first track from 2009. Kind of slightly French, synth wave, cruisy, a night track. This album really gets that sound, and I think fine tunes it. I like that it’s super short as well. It’s like a nice moment, that doesn’t overstay its welcome».
The album opens with the impressive ‘Back To The Start’ with its upbeat chord progression and infectious vocals, followed by the slickly produced synth-led funk of ‘Deep Cut’. Elsewhere, there’s the electro-tinged pop workout ‘Get Into The Night’, the erotic tour de force ‘Deadset Lust’ with its 70s disco and French Kiss references, and the LP’s first two singles ‘Mid:Night’ & ‘Hula Hoop 800’ which have racked up 5+ million plays on streaming platforms since last year. The LP concludes in suitable style with two seductive songs in the form of the smooth 80s-esque ‘Racies Cousin’ in which racism and classism are personified, and the aural sexathon ‘Cumming Coma’ which brings the album to its climax.
UK-based band Monarchy is Ra Black & Andrew Armstrong – both originally from Australia. They met in London in 2009 and immediately started to create music together, leading to their acclaimed first album in 2011 – which had excellent reviews from the likes of The Guardian and NME. Since then, their popularity and prestige has continued to rise. Their second album (released in 2015) included the single “Disintegration” starring burlesque super-star Dita Von Teese. Monarchy has also performed at some of the world’s leading festivals including Coachella, Eurosonic, Lovebox, Pentaport, Mad Cool and Reading and Leeds.
Monarchy // Deep Cut
Mid:Night is out now via Warner Music and available on all digital stores, CD, and limited-coloured vinyl.
UK Tour Dates
26th February The Button Factory (w/ Gus Gus) Dublin
27th February SWG3 Warehouse (w/ Gus Gus) Glasgow