Sailor Bay releases ‘Rollercoaster’ EP

While some musical projects begin with carefully mapped-out plans, others arise from years of friendship, shared ideas and a creative connection that simply endures. Sailor Bay belongs firmly to the latter as a project formed during the lockdown of 2020 by lifelong friends Dan Wick and Matt Mahalo, finally giving decades of collaboration a home under one name. Working from a UK-based studio, the pair channelled their shared experiences into emotional, guitar-driven songs that drew equally from indie and folk pop, exploring various complex facets of life, relationships and grief with an honesty that quickly became their calling card.

Driving Sailor Bay was the partnership itself; Dan contributed drums while also engineering the recordings and alongside him, Matt handled vocals, guitars and keyboards, shaping songs that balanced melodic warmth with emotional impact. Together they created music that felt intimate and relatable, allowing personal experiences to play out in delicate arrangements full of gentle melodies.

Over the following years, Sailor Bay built an impressive catalogue across multiple EPs and albums but, in late 2023, everything changed. Dan Wick’s passing brought the project’s journey to an unexpected halt, transforming what had been a musical partnership into something far more complicated. The loss of a lifelong friend altered not only Matt’s personal life but also the way music itself would be created moving forward. Not allowing Sailor Bay to disappear, the project has continued, with every new release becoming both an artistic statement and a tribute to Dan’s lasting spirit, friendship, influence and creative flair.

Among those releases, the Wick Sessions EP became a particularly significant outing, capturing Dan’s drumming and preserving the chemistry that lay at the centre of the project. It stands as a reminder of the creative partnership that first brought Sailor Bay to life and the collaborative context that informed every recording.

Now, the full emotional transition forms the framework of Sailor Bay’s latest release, the new EP titled Rollercoaster. The five-track collection captures something more nuanced than grief alone, distilling the slow movement from overwhelming loss towards allowing fragments of ordinary life to return. It’s not presented as a destination or resolution but as an ongoing process where hope and sadness exist alongside one another. Relationships naturally become the focal point of that journey, as Matt gradually emerges from the blinding grief that followed losing his closest friend and the ways people connect, support and shape one another come into sharper focus.

Opened by “Nothing But Dog,” the crunch of guitar chokes stutters into view as the punch of drums injects a downtempo energy as Matt’s lively vocals ring out above to deliver a grooving slice of indie rock. “Monte Carlo” follows with swirling guitar tones while the crisp snap of percussion ushers in expressive vocal leads and intricate acoustic guitar stabs, forming a mellow pop-focused jam that flows with smooth vocal layers and emotive lyricism.

Title track “Rollercoaster” brings the pulse of synth textures and fuzzy guitars as the steady march of drums underpins Matt’s impassioned vocals to craft an instantly memorable alternative pop outing that’s original, charming and subtly energising all at once. “Bowie On The Bathroom Floor” glides with the laid back patter of drums and intricate instrumental elements as intimate vocals hover above to cast a moving rock pop soundscape.

Closing the EP with “This Isn’t Much” forms with the elegant flicker of clean guitar tones and taps of percussion as softly delivered vocals float with highly affecting lyrics which swells with energy to deliver a stunning finale to the EP. While every new song carries traces of the partnership that began decades earlier, with Rollercoaster, Sailor Bay enters a personal new chapter that acknowledges heartbreak and embraces the difficult process of moving forward while keeping memory close. Through five thoughtfully crafted songs, the project continues to honour its past while cautiously opening itself to whatever comes next.

Listen to Rollercoaster below