"Who's Your Boyfriend" Released: 22 August 2025 [4]
Hickey is the second studio album by the Australian guitar-pop duo Royel Otis. It was announced in June 2025 and released on 22 August 2025, via Ourness and Capitol Records.[5]
Alex Peters from When the Horn Blows called the album "their most emotionally charged yet" saying "the duo have delivered yet another outstanding body of work, one that captures the sting of love lost without sacrificing musical vibrancy. Hickey isn't just an album about heartbreak. It’s about the strange, beautiful tension of feeling both broken and alive at the same time."[12]
Helen Brown from The Independent said the duo "come off as problematic exes on their second album" saying "You can really relish these songs as outpourings of vulnerability, confusion and anger. They could be perfect to help lovely folk to dance away the pain of messy breakups. But you don’t have to strain too hard to hear them on the incel's playlist either."[9]
Liberty Dunworth from NME said "Throughout the tracklist, guitarist Royel Madden and singer Otis Pavlovic proudly lean into what they do best. Woozy guitar lines are out in full force, accentuated by shimmering synths and intriguing drum patterns, while Pavlovic's hazy vocals add the finishing touch, making each track instantly recognisable."[10]
Sam Walker-Smart from Clash said "Following 2024's Pratts & Pain, Hickey doesn't tamper much with their winning formula. If anything, things feel slightly grander and more deliberate this time around." Walker-Smart continued "Once again, they've landed on the magic formula: that coming-of-age, memory-soaked, danceable indie we can't help but love."[8]
Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop rated the album a "Strong 1" (out of a possible 10 points), stating that he was "actually deeply shocked at just how vapid, substanceless, toothless, soulless it all is. Every single track on this thirteen song album. Like, it actually hurts. It actually is painful to listen to this record knowing full well the lineage of indie-pop and alternative artists that its very bland and uninspired sounds unabashedly rip off, and just see Royel Otis not only get away with it, but just make no effort whatsoever — zero effort — to alter it, take artistic liberties, get creative, just do something." Fantano opined that "every single guitar lick, every single vocal line is a 'nothingburger' on this thing" and summarized that the album is "boring, soulless, gross - why does it exist? This is just white noise."[13]
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