Courtesy of @palayeroyale

Palaye Royale has been teasing and promoting their upcoming album, “The Bastards,” for almost a year. The long-awaited album is set to be released on May 29, 2020. Album promotion seemed to be going smoothly until the spread of COVID-19 interrupted everything. 

The fashion-rock band consists of brothers Sebastian Danzig on guitar, Remington Leith on vocals and Emerson Barret on drums. The trio got their start as Kropp Circle in Las Vegas but rebranded once they moved to Los Angeles, where they are now based after signing with Sumerian Records. Upon their relocation, they went from sleeping in a car to releasing two successful albums: “Boom Boom Room (Side A)” in 2016 and “Boom Boom Room (Side B)” in 2018. 

The journey of the “Bastards” era began with the release of two songs, “Fucking With My Head” and “Nervous Breakdown,” in June and July 2019, respectively. Fans were pleased with this announcement because the band was starting to get more recognition. Not long after, the band announced that there would be a world tour and a new album. With the “Boom Boom Room” era over, this new chapter promised exciting things for the band. In the summer of 2019, the band got the amazing chance to tour with Marilyn Manson and did a photoshoot with Hole frontwoman Courtney Love.  

In the fall of 2019, two more songs, “Hang Onto Yourself” and “Massacre, The New American,” were released, and a headlining European and North American tour was announced. Prior to the release of “Lonely” in 2020, the band announced the album’s release date and released the album cover art after it was leaked on Apple Music. 

Then COVID-19 reared its ugly head, causing all sorts of trouble. When the virus began making its way through Europe, the band was in the middle of the European leg of their tour. Once the European travel ban was announced, the brothers had to rush home, which meant they had to reschedule the remaining dates of the tour. Guitarist Sebastian Danzig talked about the experience in an interview for Billboard, saying, “You’re getting woken up on the bus every morning at the border by a guy in a hazmat suit who’s there to take your temperature and is ripping up your bunk … It’s like a horror film.” This raised questions about their upcoming North American tour and the impending release date of “The Bastards.”

The brothers started doing live streams called “Lonely with Palaye Royale” on Twitch to help promote their new album, perform some old favorites, share goofy content and provide fans with updates on everything happening regarding touring and music. They announced with heavy hearts that the North American tour had to be rescheduled for the health and safety of the fans and crew, and expressed that fans should maintain social distancing and wash their hands. While this was sad to hear, they promised to keep fans entertained in the meantime. Palaye Royale also said that they would be writing letters and releasing a newspaper. 

Following that announcement, the group released the single “Little Bastards” with an animated music video. In an Instagram post, they stated: “Visually we wanted to display our current state which is complete isolation from the world; trapped inside a house but yet the toxic society has found its way inside. We have to ‘band’ together to keep our circle of trust and honesty tight.” The music video was styled in a way similar to the early music videos of the virtual band, Gorillaz. The band even chatted with fans before the song premiered on YouTube.

Starting a month before “The Bastards” release, the band said that they would be sharing fan art, answering questions and sharing any fan promotion. Fans were in for a treat when Palaye released a teaser of their song, “Tonight Is The Night I Die,” which was in a trailer for the new show “Paradise City.” Fans may recognize frontman Remington Leith’s singing voice as the voice of the show’s main character, Johnny Faust. Leith also provided his voice in the previous film installment, “American Satan.”

Until May 29, fans will have to wait patiently for the release of “The Bastards.” However, fans can pre-order the album on the band’s website or use the pre-save link on their Twitter page. “The Bastards” era will definitely be a memorable one.