Roar Idle craft indie rock excellence with debut album, ‘Sailing in My Mind’

There is something innately attractive about live music that doesn’t mask its intentions. Roar Idle is a great band, but it is their intention of making music that is even greater. This is electric, passionate music composed by a bunch of people who find purpose in speaking through melody. Today we look at their surreal psychedelic rock album called ‘Sailing In My Mind’. All aboard as we take to space.

Though bassist Adam Kingsley worked on the first four tracks, he has left an indelible stamp on the band’s music. Olly Massey picked up base duties from track 5 to 8 while not just understanding the assignment but elevating it. Ro Arora’s (guitar, vocals) entrance is the first string of sound you hear on the album, opening it up with the title track. His soft, raspy vocals complement the dreamy, untethered space that we are going to take with the rest of the song. Guitars sound bright and inviting and say “welcome to this journey” in every way. When he shifts into the falsetto, it’s almost like you have taken to the skies like a firefly.

Chasing surreal visions

Versatility is the name of the game for their next track, which changes gears and tempos as though they were a whole other band. ‘Waiting for Fire’ becomes a bona fide rock track, something that is at a stadium anthem level. I love the attention to detail that the band has put in to get our tones, the mix, and the way melodic spatial arrangements move through the track. Whether it’s a dreamy stance they’ve taken with a song like “Sailing…” or the groove of “Waiting for Fire”, the mix and production adapt.

Ever & Ever ensures you’re part of the rhythm even before the song starts. Ro Arora plays the strum on muted strings, and you can already feel your head bobbing. Like Layne Staley’s Mad Season, there is something about the choice of vocals and melodies that is very unorthodox. Yet it is in this juxtaposition that Roar Idle exists, enjoying how a song’s composition comes together. If you pay attention, this entire album feels like one set delivered live to you in your living room, bedroom, or wherever you are sitting and listening to this.

By the time I listened to ‘In My World’, I was sure that the understanding of themes by Ro Arora and co. would always surprise. We shifted to a bluesy demeanour from an alt-rock space. If you are walking like an innocent child into this museum of melodies, Roar Idle is the band to not just be a guide. They are the whole experience.