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Ashley Reaks — At Night the World Belongs to Me
(Bandcamp no#, 2025, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-12-05

At Night the World Belongs to Me Cover art

If you’ve been following along, Ashley Reaks has gone from the experimental and confrontational art-rock of Compassion Fatigue (1-8) through various steps towards somewhat more conventional compositions on Winter Crawls (2023) and The Body Blow of Grief (which came out earlier in 2025). But the experimental underpinning remains intact, and At Night the World Belongs to Me features eight songs tinted with the specter of death. Reaks himself has dealt with serious health issues, and long-time guitarist and collaborator Nick Dunne died unexpectedly a week after finishing his parts for the album — which obviously didn’t alter the parts that had already been recorded, but certainly colors the mood of the finished product. In addition to Reaks and Dunne, the album features Joel Purnell (saxophones), Dan Mizen (percussion), and Maria Jardardottir (vocals on one track). The fragility of life and the inevitability of death permeate the album lyrically, but the result is surprisingly upbeat in sound, not slow and gloomy. Rhythmic parts percolate along while voices and saxophones provide melodic interest in multiple overdubs. Reeks has a refreshing anything-goes attitude to arranging, but everything sounds very much like his work. His style is very distinctive, sounding like no one else, and the music is probably best described as art-rock. It’s thoughtful and catchy and smart and fun all at the same time, and another fascinating chapter in the journey of a truly original artist.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Ashley Reaks

More info
http://ashleyreaks.bandcamp.com/album/at-night-the-world-belongs-to-me

 

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