Review: Roger DeLarge

Roger DeLarge - Left Somewhere Dreaming (Independent)
Roger Bukkøy Røksund (aka Roger DeLarge) was born in Norway in 1988. Over the years he’s mainly played in metal and heavy rock bands, though he’d always been a fan of Syd Barrett and the early Pink Floyd. When the opportunity arose to record a solo album, it was to Barrett’s lysergic influence that he turned, and “Left Somewhere Dreaming” is the result, an album that might have been conceived in London’s Middle Earth club, circa 1968.

Its English, late ‘60s psychedelic sound is dark and dense, and avoids all the tweeness that’s associated with many of the bands of the period. Divided into two separate parts (just like a vinyl record), with one half calm and reflective, and the second more rooted in melancholy and sadness, the reality is a record with an almost singular vision and style. DeLarge’s trip is sinister, mysterious and very much confined to the shadows, with almost Gothic affectations. Listen after dark for optimum effect and if “Paralysis” and “DeLusions of Grandeur” don’t get you looking over your shoulder, then you’re made of stern stuff, indeed.
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Rob F.