Royel Otis

After crossing paths in Byron Bay, New South Wales, in 2019, Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic combined their first names and musical DNA to create the unassuming duo Royel Otis. But thanks to songs as catchy as 2021’s “Without U”—mixed by Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev maestro Dave Fridmann—and 2022’s “Oysters in My Pocket”, the pair were quickly catapulted to online adoration. Of course, it helps that their short, streamlined tunes hark so strongly back to the more carefree days of mid-aughts guitar-pop. Factor in their dab hand with brightly snappy hooks and spontaneous choruses, and there’s simply no escaping the squirrelly percolation of 2023’s “Fried Rice” and others. Nominated for multiple ARIAs, the duo’s 2024 debut album, PRATTS & PAIN, proved every bit a global calling card, especially when bolstered by a choice pair of covers: Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s resurgent “Murder on the Dance Floor” and The Cranberries’ early breakthrough “Linger”. If anyone could do justice to those sing-along originals—let alone get a new generation excited about cleanly strummed guitars again—it’s Royel Otis.