Nate
Ashley is a singer-songwriter hailing from the bedrooms of many of Washington's
fine coastal cities (Bellingham, Anacortes, Olympia). It is from these
isolated confines that he has written and recorded the bulk of the music
he has released the last few years. He is a songwriter of the truest since,
not limiting his songs to the simple vocal/guitar standard of most solo
artists, but composing tracks that blend a myriad of instruments and percussive
which work to construct complex melodies and intricate tunes that all
center themselves around his soothing, calm vocal melodies.While "Darling I'm Your Devil" follows closely the emotive thread of his previous work, it is quickly evident that he has expanded and developed his very distinguishable style on this new release. Probably the strongest new development from the ghostly nature of Nate's previous album "Where Matter Lives" is the addition of very predominate and funky bass licks to almost all of the songs on "Darling." Though I think this wouldn't work with most breathy, melancholic voices, the combination of these bass lines with Nate's vocal melodies gives them a velvety, sexy appeal. No longer is he singing just from the perspective of a lonely, lost lover but there is the admittance of primal drives and urges as he admits in the song "No Other Love" where he sings "I'm using animal intellect to get me through what I know must be true." And whereas his previous album comes with the disclaimer "This music was intended to be listened to alone," the new album advises that "This music was intended to be listened to at night."
Consistent with Nate Ashley's other works and the coastal location of their recording, "Darling" seems to belong to a genre of Spanish-influenced American folk music. These songs belong near, if not on, the sea. After a few years of following Nate's work I cannot discern if it is his guitar style, vocal style or perhaps, quite simply, the rhythmic way in which each song fades gently in and out during the course of the album. All I know is the love-lost emotions inspired and the desire to go boating that arises when I listen to his work. Though most of these songs convey the same intense, somber mood seen on "Where Matter Lives," Nate (once again) has lightened the mood with occasional silly, random sound effects such as the car ignition and skidding noises in "Drive." At one point during the lissome rhythms of "Drive" Nate Ashley sings "last night I went on a drive/the destination was the trip itself." It seems to me, as I listen to the bassy ebb and breathy, vocal flow of "Darling I'm Your Devil," that this is an exclamation of his songwriting process. After several listens to the tracks of this album, one is still left with plenty to discover in each song and it is easy to see that extensive effort has gone into the planning and layering of instruments, vocal tracks and all the crafty percussion sounds. That Ante has conducted, performed and recorded most everything from guitar, bass, drums and keyboards on his albums himself is a strong testament to his creativity and ingenuity as an artist. - Matt Fuller