Two songs. An entire orchestra. A spiritual awakening. A mental breakdown. All that packed with enough baggage to fill a 26-track double album. Double A Side 2 (Akaroa / Erica And The Stars) by Reetoxa is an EP but is delivered with all the bombast of a full-blown rock opera and with the emotional nuance of a man staring out the window during an interstate rainstorm.
The Melbourne band’s latest record features Jason McKee, who after 30 years of making music, finally met producer Simon Moro and started working on his debut officially released recording. That is a long time to hold onto songs. Most would have given up, started a podcast, or just deleted the demos. McKee persisted, and over years of trials and tribulations, found the shape of two large, honest orchestral rock songs.
The first, “Akaroa”, was born out of a waking spiritual dream while going through a dark patch in life. Many years later, during a trip to Akaroa, New Zealand, he felt an unexplainable presence as he wandered through town, and the song came flooding back. Pitching a story of such grand spirituality and personal struggle might sound like the opening of a very serious documentary, but the music does more of the heavy lifting.
“Akaroa” contains similar 90s rock ideals: lengthy guitar work, plenty of strings and a vocal delivery overflowing with emotional weight. The orchestrations keep the song expansive, keeping it warm but not overcooked. Nostalgia is a theme, with the sound of those preposterously long song sets being dragged into the modern day by a mountain of emotional issues.
“Erica and the Stars”, the second track, is even more personal. McKee mentioned it was written during a rough mental time that he describes as a life raft. His mind hallucinated an arrangement, and he finally got the Budapest Orchestra to perform the string parts to match his imagination. While most of us crawl out of this sort of situation by grabbing our phones or shoveling undercooked snacks into our mouths, McKee decided what he needed was an entire orchestra. That’s impressive.
Thankfully, the grandiosity works because while this song sounds like it might blow out of proportion, the emotional core stays close to home. His voice carries the pain while the strings define it, encompassing it into something resembling an epic film about conquering the universe. Yes, it is melodramatic but it’s not just grandstanding to make sure no one forgets how important this is.
Each track has instrumental karaoke tracks so anyone can take all those vocal moments. It may seem out of left field but it feels like a natural fit because these songs don’t feel untouchable, monument-style creations. Instead, they have been written to be performed in people’s living rooms as a form of camaraderie.
Throughout Double A Side 2, Reetoxa shows off a healthy mix of indie-rock grunge and a much larger orchestral scope. Guitar grounds things, strings open up the world, and the singing is alternately exposed and downright fierce. The production keeps things spacey enough to breathe but honest enough to feel real and meaningful.
Subtlety isn’t the point of this release, and presumably isn’t Reetoxa’s aim. The artist gets into the realm of uncertainty, emotional endurance, and the realization that creativity can turn difficult experiences into something people might be able to relate to. Sometimes the songs are dialed into their ballads. Sometimes they seem poised to soundtrack a man standing on the edge of the universe contemplating its significance.
It’s hard to ignore the passion behind it all. As far as small releases go, this one has outsized aspirations: two songs, layers and layers of symphonic arrangements, and enough personal baggage to fill a double album. Maybe it doesn’t reimagine the world of rock music but it’s a compelling argument for why anyone should keep trying. A guitar, a voice, and enough emotional investment is a lot to deal with in one sitting, but it helps to make the darkness not seem so eternal.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for various publications around the world, the former lead writer of review blogspace Atop The Treehouse and content creator for Manila Bulletin.
