Ashley Reaks - 'Melancholia'

This record sounds like PiL, The Sisters Of Mercy
and Lee 'Scratch' Perry all jamming together, with
Reaks' evocative vocals weaving in and out of the
lush synth textures and tribal rhythms. Someone
once tried to describe a Hawkwind album to me by
outstretching his arm, drawing a spiral with his finger,
and stating that ''it goes round and round like
this'', which is exactly what Melancholia does - it's a
sometimes chaotic fusion of instruments and rootsy
influences all held in place by immense dub
basslines worthy of Jah Wobble. Without warning
Melancholia will take one of its myriad influences
and push it to an extreme, 'I've Got Everything (That
Nobody Wants)' subjecting you to two minutes of
crushing fuzzed-up industrial punk mayhem and the
title track (which follows) sounding like it wouldn't be
out of place on a record by The Orb. Despite all this
though, Melancholia retains a coherence, a consistency
and a pop sensibility often lost when artists try to be 'experimental'. Although Reaks' music IS experimental
in the sense that it blends seemingly disparate
genres it does so seamlessly and skilfully - Reaks
knows exactly what effect he is aiming for and exactly
how to achieve it. Impressively, he also handles the
sublime production work himself. It's genuinely difficult
to fault this album - it is of course entirely unfashionable
but nonetheless shows that complexity in
music doesn't equal unlistenability, repeatedly surprising
and inspiring the listener along the way. Whilst
The Pigeon Detectives and their ilk are busy demonstrating
that unintelligent, unmusical tosh can still be
hugely popular, Ashley Reaks proves that clever and
carefully constructed music can still be visceral, direct
and beautiful.

Duncan Evans

www.sandmanmagazine.co.uk