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With their first EP, Bahrain-based OFFtrack have created an entrancing vibe for your next on- or off-road trip, as they take you on an emotional roller-coaster.
The debut EP, titled Onsra, comes two years after their first single Too Dumb For Your Guns, which was featured previously in GulfWeekly.
“From the Boro language of north-east India, the title Onsra refers to that bittersweet moment when you love for the last time or the realisation that the love won’t last,” bandleader Sumit Sharma, 44, told GulfWeekly.
“I came across this word recently and really liked how unique and specific it is.
“Onsra is an album about love, hope, resignation, desperate optimism and also failing at all levels simultaneously. The songs are from a personal catalogue of experiences lived or in the hope of having lived.”
While Too Dumb For Your Guns took aim at the idea of war and the suffering it caused, this album turns more inward, although the band members do acknowledge that it is being released during particularly difficult times.
They noted in a recent post on their social media that “it might make you cry, it might make you dance, it might be a warm hug in this testing times.
“Whatever it will be, it will live on like any art and music did, because in tough times of our life, it was music which saved us.”
The six-track album, released on October 20, was produced by Sumit with Vishnu Pillai.
Throughout the album, 28-year-old Sara Al Sayed’s ethereal vocals and the silky string-play of Sean Aaron, 29, entwine perfectly with the baselines of 30-year-old Ryan James.
Ashwin Shenoy, better known by his moniker Xenai, also contributed vocals on the sixth track while Vishnu’s voice can be heard on She.
Intriguingly, despite all the band members being in Bahrain, much of the album was recorded and conceived in silos with very few in-person sessions.
“We are not one of those bands who hang out together,” Sumit explained.
“But one of the main conflicts or challenges was to make sure everyone understands the sound and mood of the album. We were looking for those imperfections of a vulnerable person, who feels too exposed to sing or to perform well but also has great depths in his silence.”
Ryan found that all the rules that were bent and broken during production of the album forced the band to unlearn some of what they had learned in order to get to the sound that they got.
What emerged is a medley of melodies that floats at the intersection of post-punk, trip hop, trance and dystopian futurism, which is less lyrical than their debut single from 2021 but just as much of an ear worm.
The sound would feel just as fitting for an intense workout at the gym as it would at a dance party. In fact, the band added that it wouldn’t be wrong to consider it “a melancholic dance album for people who are too anxious to dance.”
However, when asked where they would suggest listening to it for the first time ever, both Sara and Ryan are quick to agree that a late night desert drive is the perfect venue, with Sara particularly recommending a drive at 1am to the Tree of Life as the ideal atmosphere.
“I don’t think we had any specific concept in mind when we first started working on this album,” the band added.
“We wanted to create repeating grooves and patterns, till it gets you moving, if that makes sense. In a nutshell, we just wanted to make an album which you could play at your kid’s birthday party.”
The band is now set to release two music videos for songs from the album – one for Sand and Fork, and an animated one for Lamina.
OFFtrack is also working on bringing the album to life on stage.
Onsra is now available on Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms. For details, follow @offtrack on Instagram.
