Louder Than The Music

Roelant - The Narrows

Artist:

Roelant

Title:

The Narrows

Type:

Album

Released:

30 Apr 2019

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Houston-based power trio ROELANT is breaking a 4-year silence with their new EP 'The Narrows', released on Revolution House Records. For their sophomore effort they’ve enlisted the talents of mix engineer Steve Christensen (Steve Earle, Khruangbin) and mastering engineer Dave McNair (Snarky Puppy, Fantastic Negrito).

ROELANT looks to follow up their 2015 release 'Music To Change The World By' which yielded two Billboard charting singles, 'Staring at the Sun' and 'Soda Pop Kids'. 'The Narrows' provides plenty of musicality and flare, but also taps into the spirit of the protest music of decades past to be lyrically relevant as well...
Read More Houston-based power trio ROELANT is breaking a 4-year silence with their new EP 'The Narrows', released on Revolution House Records. For their sophomore effort they’ve enlisted the talents of mix engineer Steve Christensen (Steve Earle, Khruangbin) and mastering engineer Dave McNair (Snarky Puppy, Fantastic Negrito).

ROELANT looks to follow up their 2015 release 'Music To Change The World By' which yielded two Billboard charting singles, 'Staring at the Sun' and 'Soda Pop Kids'. 'The Narrows' provides plenty of musicality and flare, but also taps into the spirit of the protest music of decades past to be lyrically relevant as well as musically entertaining.

With an opening track titled 'Angry' you sure know this isn't a gentle record. This, as the band said, is a protest record for what's going on in the world. On a personal level this is my kind of music. This is the sound I would personally go for, so for me this EP was a winner from the moment it started.

Mixing together sounds like Muse, creatively, and the swagger of Kasabian, this band has what I like about Rock music. Add to the sound mix some Switchfoot and the Manics Street Preachers and you start to get a idea of what this band are trying to do. Talking about The Manics, vocally Justin sounds a bit like James Dean Bradfield in his delivery.

From the gutsy guitars and pounding drum beat of the fantastic 'Angry' to the softer and nearly jazz vibes of 'Control', this is an album that is poetic and gutsy, but also funky and calming as well. 'Narrows' has this clean reflective sound, a bit like modern U2, not the obvious Joshua Tree late 80's U2, but from more of their latest stuff. And as said earlier, track 'Wrong' has this brilliant funk to it where we see the guitars in a whole new light.

For me personally, I loved it. If you like your music with a side of rock then this is well worth checking out. This isn't nice music to make you feel all fuzzy inside, this EP is about making a difference.

Review by Jono Davies

LTTM Rating 4.5 Out of 5 Stars
Standout Tracks
Angry
Control

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Track Listing

Roelant - The Narrows

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ROELANT Releases New EP 'The Narrows'

Other Roelant Releases

Wrong

Music To Change The World