When an opportunity to open a pair of sold-out shows in Chicago for the English band Dry Cleaning came up for Fred Thomas’ Idle Ray project in 2021, it was an easy “yes.”

There was only one slight problem: The Ypsilanti songwriter’s latest alias for writing and recording lo-fi indie rock was a solo project, not an actual group.

“It was, ‘Yep, no problem, we'll be there,’ without actually having a band at all,” Thomas said. “It was just me, and I hadn't played these shows for a couple of years. So I just asked everybody whose instruments I'd been borrowing if they’d play with me at those two shows.”

More than three years later, the individuals Thomas found to play the shows, guitarist Frances Ma and bassist Devon Clausen, have taken on official roles in Idle Ray, with each providing their own unique contributions to the band’s two 2025 record releases.

While the pair came into Idle Ray with significantly less experience playing in front of larger audiences than Thomas, their perspectives and the relaxed nature of the band have helped Idle Ray thrive, Thomas said.

“I had a lot more years of performance and songwriting and stuff than they did, and I feel like their contributions just made the band so much better, and that kind of new perspective is something I'll never be able to have again,” Thomas said. “So, it definitely has changed and brightened the band and made it a lot less predictable.”

Idle Ray put out its second full-length album, Even in the Spring, in June, and followed it up this month with a four-song EP, Airport, which features some of the most energetic and amplified indie rock songs the band has released to date.

A big reason for that, Thomas said, was the involvement of friend and Cloud Nothings drummer Jayson Gerycz. About 40 songs were considered for Even in the Spring, before that was whittled down to 10. Gerycz supplied drums on six songs during the recording sessions, with Nick German and Emily Roll handling the rest, which happened across many home-studio dates between 2022 and 2025. 

Two songs Gerycz played on ended up on Even in the Spring, and Thomas said he still felt it was appropriate to compartmentalize the remaining four tunes that felt “of a piece.” When Salinas Records reached out to him about the songs for a potential 7-inch vinyl release, Thomas quickly knew he had the perfect fit.

“There were four songs that Jason played drums on that were kind of like, not left over, but just also there,” Thomas said. “I was like, ‘Oh, it'd be really cool if these four songs had a place of their own,’ because they're more rocking and more intense, and he's such a powerful drummer. He's got such a style. … He doesn't play soft, and he has such a fluid melodic sense that it sort of changes the course of any song he plays on.”

With songs like “Eternal Fade” and “Airport” bookending the new EP with crunchy, buzzsaw guitars and a more muscular rhythm section, Idle Ray has become the home for some of Thomas’ more indie-rock focused songwriting since the pandemic-era project began.

The band’s descriptions of the songs on Bandcamp confirm this, giving reference to over-caffeinated Dinosaur Jr. vibes on “Eternal Fade,” while "Memories Burn (Whenever You Dream)" is intended to sound like an agnsty Pavement demo from between Slanted & Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.

With much of his solo material devoted to “darker, longer, protracted emotional music” appearing on albums like 2024’s Window in the Rhythm, Thomas said Idle Ray has continued to be an outlet for his more easily digestible, melodic pop songwriting.

“That's what I like to listen to,” Thomas said. “I don't like to necessarily listen to the type of music that I make. So I kind of returned to recording on the four-track and lo-fi pop stuff, like the Swirlies and Guided by Voices and early My Bloody Valentine. Those are all, like, some of my favorite things to listen to. That's kind of what Idle Ray started out as, sort of being that type of vibe, and that got that out of my system.”

After getting its latest batch of songs out, Thomas said he is proud of Idle Ray’s evolution and the records the band was able to put out this year, but not heavily motivated to tour behind it extensively.

The band’s activity tends to evolve around when opportunities present themselves, Thomas said, often writing new material ahead of tour invitations that come up. Thomas said he likes it that way, with the band’s solidified trio choosing to keep Idle Ray a casual but enjoyable endeavor.

"It's such a relaxed band that, basically, we get an offer, and then we get together around the offer,” Thomas said. “Other than that, we hang out fairly often, and just go to dinner or like, go bowling or something.”

Martin Slagter is a writer and reporter with 18 years of experience in print and digital media. He also writes about Michigan-based music in his weekly newsletter Radio Amor.