The only trouble this track is going to cause is the wear it’s putting on my headphones.
“Trouble’s Coming,” the latest release from British rock duo Royal Blood has been on repeat on my playlists since it dropped on September 24, 2020. The first riff of the intro is very reminiscent of an early 2000’s boy band, and I’m here for it. The song quickly develops into something entirely different, however. Lots of fun electronic pitches matched with a dirty guitar (which actually isn’t a guitar at all, but tricky play with pedals that makes Mike Kerr’s bass sound remarkably similar to one), and some killer drum fills courtesy of Ben Thatcher make this song very easy to bop your head along to.
Despite the groovy rock feel to the song, the lyrics touch on a heavy subject. One of my favorite things is when an artist combines deep and emotional lyrics with a rhythm that makes you want to dance along while it plays through your speakers. It’s a powerful juxtaposition that you just don’t get with a ballad. Everyone knows a sad song when they hear it, but with something like “Trouble’s Coming” you aren’t necessarily anticipating the weight of the lyrics you’re about to hear.
“I see someone but not somebody” in the first verse, following the image Kerr paints of having punched a mirror after seeing his reflection, is a stunning lyric. Looking at yourself and not liking what you see, be that physically or metaphorically, is something that I’m sure almost everyone can relate to. When who you want to be and who you are currently don’t line up perfectly, it causes an internal battle I know I’ve faced many times. Sometimes it feels easier to run away from that feeling instead of facing it. Or in this case, shatter a mirror so you don’t have to see your feelings painted on your face right in front of you.
The line “Trouble’s coming, but I still don’t know when / that’s the voice that I can hear in my head” right before the first chorus gave me goosebumps the first time I picked up the lyrics. That feeling is all too familiar, one of knowing that “trouble” of some kind is imminent but having no control over when it will manifest itself is daunting. Trying to escape it is like running a marathon on a treadmill. You’re going through the motions, picking your feet up and doing the work, but at the end of the day you didn’t get very far at all. To me, this is reminiscent of depressive episodes that I can feel coming and can try to attempt to stop, but ultimately they come and I feel like I have no control over it. Depressive episodes seem to come and go as they please, can't track when they'll come to me and it takes over everything, it's the voice I hear in my head.
Overall, this song hit home for me. The lyrics are almost unsettling because it’s so relatable. Almost as if the writer got straight into my head and put into words the things I’ve felt for so long but have never been able to properly voice, tracked over a beat that makes you feel like, until the song ends, that everything is okay. It's a remarkable song. “Trouble’s Coming” is definitely going to be a song on heavy rotation for me while I wait for Royal Blood’s next release.
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