ROGUEY ROADS IS ONE OF THE MOST PROMISING UP-AND-COMING INDIE-POP BANDS IN CORNWALL. LISTEN TO THEIR NEW ‘WESTWOOD SANDS’ RELEASE AND LEARN ALL ABOUT THIS EXCITING CORNISH BROTHER DUO WHO LOVE THE DUCHY…
Roguey Roads. It’s a great name for a great soft rock duo in Cornwall. This up-and-coming indie-pop band, made up of a couple of brothers, has already made its name gigging around the Duchy and far beyond. But now the lads have released their new single ‘Westwood Sands’ and you can listen to it and watch their new music video right here (below) at Proper Cornwall.
Rhys and Gus Warriner make up Roguey Roads. They, as they put it, ‘ooze charisma’. This is a high-octane funky, soul-induced indie-pop outfit that is all about its Cornish surroundings and, again as they put it, ‘blurs the lines between modern and classic sounds’. There’s nostalgia in their music but, make no mistake, this is contemporary and unique too.
‘Westwood Sands’ was entirely written, recorded, released and documented in Cornwall. It’s a song on the brothers’ upcoming EP, ‘What A Beautiful Moment in Time’, which was showcased at the St Ives Food and Drink Festival 2023 in mid-May. ‘Westwood Sands’, as the duo puts it, is ‘slightly progressive’ compared to their previous singles but ‘still holds true to their grounded, catchy sonic identity’.
Cool, calm and funky: the brothers gonna work it out
The track is certainly an emotional journey with an anthemic chorus and a building instrumentation that becomes more lightly euphoric as the song progresses. The raspy vocals, folk and country influences and sort-of-ballad-but-more-upbeat-than-that sentiments make fior a rounded tune that tugs at the heartstrings in all the right places.
The lads say the track was inspired by ‘a coastal romance’ as they have been enamoured with the Duchy’s beaches and bays for many years. Gus Warriner says: “The song was not so much written but felt. Some songs take your active participation to write while others require you to be a vessel of expression. ‘Westwood Sands’ is the latter.”
Rhys Warriner adds: “The song is about the majestic pull of the coast, simple living and of a love story that anyone can connect with.” A radio station has already said of the song that ‘it conjures up nostalgic feelings of the memories you make with that special someone, like a series of priceless polaroids set to a song of crisp, warm vocals and swaggering, rustic rhythms’. We agree.
The video is equally wide-ranging, with beach and sand dune shots in Cornwall. Much is shot from above and much also sees the brothers singing to the track along with a dog who is in its element on the coast. Listen to ‘Westwood Sands’ here:
The lads, who originally hail from Oxford and founded their band in 2017, already have a debut album in their back catalogue alongside an army of gigs across Cornwall and far beyond. They are based in multiple places in Cornwall, including Perranporth, Falmouth and Illogan near Redruth.
They say that ‘Westwood Sands’ is thus called because of a beach in Cornwall but there is no such place. The guys say it simply describes a sandy ‘destination’ in Cornwall, the farthest west you can go on our isle. Have a listen and then discover more of Roguey Roads’ tracks on Spotify, iTunes and YouTube.
We say that Roguey Roads is one of the best indie bands in Cornwall right now. Catch the brothers at the Run to the Sun festival in Newquay on Sunday 28 May 2023 and at Fives Below in Grove Place, Falmouth, on the evening of Thursday 8 June 2023. They also play Host cocktail bar in St Ives on the evening of Friday 16 June 2023.
See you at one of those gigs. Or, at least, we’ll see you on Westwood Sands the next time you play this ace song on your stereo.