Royel Otis brought out Sophie Ellis-Bextor to perform her hit track ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ at Reading 2025. Check out footage of the set below.
The moment came as the Aussie duo took to the main stage this afternoon (August 23) for their return slot at the dual festival. It also follows on from a huge summer of touring for Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic, who have already made appearances at the likes of Lollapalooza and Glastonbury this year.
While on stage today, the band continued their recent tradition of breaking out a cover of the classic Sophie Ellis-Bextor track ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ – but this time surprised punters by bringing out the singer for a surprise collab.
“We’ve got a special guest to bring out,” frontman Otis Pavlovic said, welcoming her to the stage, while Ellis-Bextor added: “It’s good to be back, it’s been a few years. I don’t think any of you were born when I was last here… you’re looking good though.”
Check out the moment below.
NO WAY ROYEL OTIS BROUGHT OUT SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/WrKMcDGOSS
— Mew 💙 (@MewKario) August 23, 2025
Also in their set at Reading, Royel Otis broke out fan-favourites tracks such as ‘Kool Aid’ and ‘Oysters In My Pocket’, along with newer singles like ‘Moody’ and ‘Car’.
The latter were taken from their second album ‘Hickey’, which arrived yesterday (August 22) and followed on from their hit debut LP ‘Pratts & Pain’. In an NME review, the record was awarded four stars and praised as “their most self-assured” release to date.
The duo also spoke to NME recently about the inclusion of ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ in their setlist, and reflected on whether they plan to keep playing the song at their shows now that they have more original tracks under their belt.
“At the moment, yes, because if I go to see a band, I wanna see the songs that [I know],” Pavlovic said. “They’re the ones that people want to hear, and if other ones take over, they can have the foot up.”
“It’s so hard, because ‘Murder…’ gets everyone hyped and ‘Linger’ gets everyone singing along, which makes us feel better,” Maddell added. “It’d be nice to not do them – not because we don’t like the songs, but because they’re not our songs, it feels like a cop out, sometimes.”
Check back here for all of NME’s coverage of Reading & Leeds 2025.
