Can Royal Blood win Best British Album at the 2015 BRITs?
In the heavy rock world, 2014 was undoubtedly the year of Brighton two-piece Royal Blood. Their self-titled album is the fastest selling rock album in three years, they have worldwide sales of over half a million (250,000 in the UK alone) and they’ve broken 35 million streams on Spotify. Not bad for a band who, amazingly, don’t even have a guitarist!
But could Royal Blood actually WIN the BRIT award for Best British Album? It’s fair to say that bands this heavy have never won this crucial – and arguably the most important – category. Then again, bands this heavy don’t normally get nominated for the Mercury Music Prize – which is notorious for ignoring heavy guitars – nor do they turn up in the Live Lounge doing covers of Pharrell tunes. But Royal Blood have done just that.
So while the smart money is probably on Sam Smith, particularly as he’s just walked away with four Grammys – including their equivalent award, Record of the Year – Royal Blood has undoubtedly captured the public’s imagination over the past 12 months and could well be in with a shot. You’ve only got to look at Radio 1 moving the rock show to a primetime slot, Bring Me The Horizon headlining Wembley and the likes of Marmozets, Deaf Havana, and Mallory Knox being all over the radio, to see that the spotlight is certainly back shining on British rock music again. For the first time ever, a genuinely raw, heavy and vital rock album could stand tall at the 2015 Brit Awards. And it won’t be before time.