The Royal Royal will release its second album, The Return of the King, March 4 through The Paradigm Collective.
Brothers Nathan and Gabriel Finochio follow their 2012 debut, The Royalty, with 10 new songs that continue the Canadian duo’s blend of modern worship, electronic pop and alternative rock.
Working with a sibling has obvious risks, including the possibility that a disagreement about a keyboard sound could reopen an argument from 1997. Nathan said the brothers’ familiarity instead gives them confidence in the studio.
“It’s great to work with someone you know almost as well as yourself,” he said. “It’s ‘no surprises’ living, and it really adds confidence.”
Nathan produced the album with David Kuwabara, shaping arrangements that move between synthesizers, guitars and congregational melodies without settling completely into any one worship-music formula.
The project’s early singles offer a useful overview. “Holding On” introduced the album, while “Every Little Bit of Praise” brought a brighter pop approach and debuted at No. 19 on the AC/CHR chart. “Real Strength,” the latest song sent to radio, takes a more reflective look at where people turn when distractions and self-reliance stop providing an answer.
“We pray that our generation be one that can see and move beyond the emptiness and confusion of modernity, with its constant distractions that try to fill our anxious souls,” Nathan said.
The brothers grew up as pastors’ sons and have continued to view their music primarily as service to the local church. That background is central to The Return of the King, but the duo’s influences reach well beyond standard worship records. Nathan and Gabriel have cited artists including Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan and James Taylor, which helps explain the rhythmic and melodic details that regularly wander outside the safest available arrangement.
The album follows The Royalty, which reached No. 15 on the Christian iTunes chart after its 2012 release. Rather than simply reproduce that record, The Royal Royal said the goal was to make familiar ideas sound newly considered.
“Our prayer for everyone who plays this record is twofold,” Nathan said, “that they rediscover Jesus Christ in the freshest way, and that the old things seem brand new all over again.”
The Royal Royal is supporting the album with appearances at festivals, worship conferences and international events, along with dates on the Church Tour with Vertical Church.
Watch the lyric video for “Every Little Bit of Praise” below.