Following on the heels of Joseph's self-titled EP, released at the end of 2025, Sailing is a melodic indie rock record, built around psych-tinged guitar work, woozy drum grooves and Joseph's layered vocals.

While the album feels at home in a long lineage of dissonant electric guitar music from both at home (UMO, Pop Strangers) and abroad (Nick Hakim), Joseph's layered vocal harmonies and the emotional gutpunch of songs like If and Giving Up make it distinctive.

The album was recorded over a feverish three days in early 2024, with drummer Arden Tanner-Dempsey and De Stevens, who also engineered and produced the record, on bass guitar.

"It was a funny situation, because we basically met De for the first time and jumped straight into three really long and intense days at the studio," says Joseph.

“It was really fun to just dive headfirst into making a record within this pretty limited window of time.”

The album spans a turbulent few years for Joseph — songs written shortly after moving home from a stint in Shanghai (Final Chance, Giving Up), through to a later chapter living out in the Waipā countryside (Make it Simple, Sailing).

"Listening back to the album now, I feel like it captures some of the upheaval I was going through, both geographically and in my personal life," he says. "It's cool to have these little snapshots from what now feels like a lifetime ago."