RØRY - Bloodletting (2026)
I think BLOODLETTING succeeds because RØRY never sounds emotionally detached from what she is singing.
The production is extremely modern. The guitars are polished, the electronic elements are carefully placed and most choruses know exactly when to become larger. That predictability could have made the album feel calculated. RØRY’s performance prevents it from becoming completely mechanical.
After the short [welcome to bloodletting], DEGRADATION establishes the heavier direction immediately. I like the anger in the vocal and the physical weight of the guitars. The restrained verse followed by an explosive chorus is familiar, but the performance gives the formula enough urgency to work.
SWALLOW is the first major keeper.
The hook is immediate, the vocal rhythm changes and the heavier sections feel like emotional escalation rather than decoration. The song communicates the strange paralysis created by grief without becoming musically static. Even the more rhythmic, almost rapped passage contributes to the tension instead of interrupting it.
a cure for cancer is more complicated. The subject is devastating, and RØRY confronts the impossibility of repairing a fatal illness without hiding behind vague imagery. I believe every word. The composition around those words is less distinctive, but the emotional directness carries it.
MORTAL finds a better balance between subject and songwriting. The restrained beginning preserves the vulnerability, while the chorus grows naturally instead of suddenly switching into arena-rock mode. The theme is universal, but the performance keeps it personal.
[the death of a people pleaser] marks the album’s transition from suffering toward anger. At only 29 seconds, it does exactly what it needs to do and leaves before its message becomes overexplained.
KIDS THESE DAYS provides a welcome release. It is fast, catchy and clearly designed to work live. Almost every production decision is predictable, but the song has enough personality and energy to justify its simplicity.
DEAD GIRL WALKING is one of the best tracks.
The heavier sound has a genuine purpose here. The central image of someone who remains physically present while feeling emotionally dead is simple, direct and effective. The screams emerge naturally from that condition. They do not sound like a metalcore requirement inserted after the second chorus.
GREY has another strong hook, but this is where the album’s construction becomes more visible. The song is completely competent, yet it follows several of the same dynamic movements already used elsewhere. I enjoy it while it plays and struggle to identify it separately afterward.
[oh when the saints] offers an atmospheric pause before hometown. The traditional reference gives the album a brief funeral quality and moves the focus from private pain toward something more collective.
hometown is a quiet keeper. I prefer its specific relationship with memory and place to some of the album’s broader declarations. The arrangement leaves enough room for the voice, and the song does not need another enormous climax to make its point.
STRANGE is probably the album’s most immediately accessible track. The chorus remains in my head, and RØRY turns alienation into something direct without making it emotionally simplistic. Its musical language is close to current alternative pop-rock, but the vocal conviction gives it an identifiable centre.
The closing [do you want to live?] returns to the question underlying the entire record.
I appreciate that RØRY does not present survival as a motivational slogan. Choosing life does not erase the grief, anger or exhaustion described during the previous 35 minutes. It simply becomes a decision that must be made while those feelings are still present.
That is the main strength of BLOODLETTING.
RØRY writes in direct sentences and occasionally explains more than necessary, but I prefer this risk to lyrics that hide limited emotional content behind abstract language. Her voice sounds damaged, angry and determined. Even the most commercially constructed choruses retain a human edge.
The heavier direction also suits her. The guitars and screams increase the pressure without removing the melodic accessibility that made RESTORATION effective. The album remains compact, and its interludes provide enough breathing space to stop the emotional intensity from becoming exhausting.
Its limitation is musical individuality.
Several songs follow the same progression from restrained confession to explosive chorus. The production makes these transitions effective while also making them predictable. Four of the thirteen tracks are narrative or atmospheric pieces, leaving a relatively small group of fully developed songs.
But the keeper ratio is good. SWALLOW, MORTAL, KIDS THESE DAYS, DEAD GIRL WALKING, hometown and STRANGE all give me reasons to return. The complete sequence also has a clear emotional movement from collapse through rage toward a difficult decision to continue.
I hear a very personal RØRY album constructed from a somewhat less personal musical vocabulary.
The sincerity, pacing and strongest hooks are enough to push it into the lower part of the very-good range. It does not reinvent alternative rock, but it makes familiar choices feel necessary.
Pros
- SWALLOW, DEAD GIRL WALKING and STRANGE combine immediate hooks with credible emotional weight.
- RØRY’s direct writing gives the album a recognisable and convincing human voice.
- The heavier production supports the anger without burying the melodies.
Cons
- Several tracks use similar restrained-verse-to-explosive-chorus structures.
- Four narrative interludes leave only nine fully developed compositions.
- The musical language remains heavily dependent on current alternative-rock and melodic-metalcore conventions.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Country: UK
Final Verdict: 70% (Very Good Album)
Yearly Ranking: 58th / 680
Highlight: Strange (added to my 2026 best of)
Made me think of:
Caskets
Bring Me the Horizon
Against the Current
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