Theatre Royal - Portraits

As befitting a band on their fifth album, Portraits sees Theatre Royal’s regular positivity put through the mill. Whereas on previous albums the upbeat bounce was infectious, the album cover in this case is reflective of the more sombre messages within.

It takes a while though; opening track ‘A Marvellous Death’ is soaringly upbeat, a piece of boisterous British rock with watertight bass that transcends fads and movements. Equally as musically rollicking is ‘Kasher’, but in lyrics it’s a sombre tale of a child nursing a jackdaw to health before meeting resistance from adults. Later on, ‘Tomorrow Now’ has the defiant gusto of a world-weary man on drums and guitar but is tempered by melancholia: ‘I’m packing away the hopes that we made.’

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2020/10/theatre-royal-release-fifth-studio-album-portraits/