8/10

Royal Blush have always seemed interested in seeing how far their version of alternative rock can bend, and 'From Where We’re From' makes that curiosity the EP’s defining strength. Across four tracks, the Jersey City-based band move between grunge, alt-country, slowcore and classic-rock scale without losing the sense that these songs belong to the same group.

‘Gimme (One Thing)’ opens with the most immediate impact, throwing itself forward with a heavier, more cathartic energy. It's a sharp introduction, but the EP quickly avoids settling into one lane. ‘Ur Cure’ pulls things back into a more reflective alt-country space, showing that Royal Blush are just as comfortable with restraint as they are with volume.

While ‘Roll the Dice’ sits somewhere between those two extremes. Long established as a live favourite, the track sounds like a song finally growing into its full shape, with the band leaning into a bigger, more forceful arrangement without losing the directness that made it work onstage in the first place.

Then ‘Like Ur Mine’ takes another turn again. Beginning in a slower, more inward-looking space before expanding dramatically, the closer is arguably the clearest example of the band's appetite for contrast. Its lyrical focus on complicated attraction gives the track an emotional pull, while the arrangement gradually opens into something considerably larger.

But what holds the whole EP together is the chemistry between Allison Heckart, Andrew Merclean, Patryk Sikorski, Kay Keels and John Carbone. Each track approaches alternative rock from a different angle, but the performances retain the same sense of tension and momentum throughout.

Following 2025’s 'A Ways Away', 'From Where We’re From' feels like a natural expansion of their sound to date. It's compact, but it says plenty about where Royal Blush are heading.

Four tracks may not leave much room for excess, but they certainly make that work in their favour. 'From Where We’re From' is varied, energetic and confident enough to suggest that the band’s range is only beginning to open up.