Pleasure Hides Your Needs EP

n the wake of the May release of their Pleasure Hides Your Needs album, The Royal Ritual - the solo project of David Lawrie - gives us a glimpse into the title track’s conception on this new four track EP.

Producer and frontman David trained as a classical pianist from the age of 7 and has worked in the music industry for many years, but The Royal Ritual was born just before the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Initially The Royal Ritual was a studio-based affair, with the debut album MARTYRS produced in virtual solitude in Lawrie’s private studio in Northern California.

With its fusion of harsh synthetic tones, dark, percussive sound design, and traditional world instruments, the album was well-received in the music press and throughout the goth and industrial music communities.

It saw The Royal Ritual develop a dedicated following, finding favour with fans of artists like IAMX, Gary Numan, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, New Model Army, and HEALTH.

2024 saw the more contemplative and personal Pleasure Hides Your Needs album come to fruition. A strongly-themed series of sonic chapters in song form, its physical iteration was originally devised and designed as a concept album, with the audio from each song blending into the next.

David’s approach to conceiving and recording the LP left him with some gems and alternative versions he wanted to share with the world, resulting in an EP that serves as both a companion piece and an original work in its own right.

The EP features the album version of the track, but also takes us behind the scenes to the creation of Pleasure Hides Your Needs itself. The song was originally brought to life as an atmospheric, stripped-down piano version before transforming into the album version of the track we’re familiar with on the well-received LP. It appears here as the Equal Temperament mix.