Psych-Rock Duo Root Murphy Release Stack One of Debut Record ‘Kinetophone’

Vocalist-guitarist Amlan Nayar first brought a group of musicians to form a band called Root Murphy together in late 2011. With a bunch of lineup changes over the years, it was in 2014 when he met drummer Vishwam Raghunandan. “We ended up sharing an idea, a concept and an approach,” says Nayar. With a strong musical bond formed between the pair, they decided to soldier on as Root Murphy and the New Delhi psych-rock outfit is now out with their debut batch of songs compiled as part of their 16-track album Kinetophone.

The new record is going to be released in a piecemeal fashion as four separate EPs, with the band recently releasing the first one. Nayar calls it “stacks,” similar to chapters in a book or volumes. He says, “The ‘stack’ helps us put together a story in detail, also allowing us to create that much more. Parallel to a concept album, these concept stacks circle an idea each, that stitch together a larger theme in the album’s songwriting.”

The band covers a vast sonic canvas on the opening phase of Kinetophone. There’s moody acoustic rock (“Love, Always”), ambient textures (“Context”), dreaminess (“Run Along”) and honeyed layers (“Hold Steady”). Speaking about the songs, the vocalist-guitarist says, “It binds the grounding ideas of the album, which we’d like to also look at as a journey that unfolds as we experience and share more.” Both Nayar and Raghunandan are at the top of their game across the entire record with dynamics, melodic intricacies, groovy elements as well as strong songwriting.

The band tracked Kinetophone at their home studio while vocals were done at sound engineer Sahil Dhingra’s studio and drums at New Delhi’s Working Panda Studios. Root Murphy co-produced the entire record with Dhingra, who also mixed and mastered it. Session musicians Sajal Sharma, Raaed Ehsan Azim and Kabir Agarwal also contributed to the album. “There was a lot of pre-production involved in the process. Our choice of playing styles and instrument setup played a major role in determining how we would finally sound,” says Nayar.

On what to expect from the forthcoming material, Nayar assures us that we’re going to be surprised. The musician explains that the band gets even more experimental with each release. He says, “Today’s tech allows us to explore our sound and technique and even our approach all the more, and we’re all about embracing change.” While the band readies stack two, which will be out in a few weeks, they’re also working towards sharing live versions of their songs that could lead to gigs, online shows and even videos. “For now we would like for listeners to be able to step into the Root Murphy experience and feel the first bits of where we will be taking them,” says Nayar.

Stream stack one of ‘Kinetophone’ on Spotify below and on other platforms.