Rose Night Places

Night Places is the latest project from Reuben Sawyer, whose been an illustrator & musician for over a decade. Sawyer has various aliases, and his Rose persona comes off as hypnotic, focused, and beyond freezing. Sawyer’s previous efforts have tended toward exploring the darker sides of humanity, and he here continues this inner excavation.

Night Places brings the listener across a swath of curiously emotional territory. At times his robotic beats lean toward minimal goth techno, bearing some resemblance to Ministry or Meat Beat Manifesto. On other tracks, such as “The Searing”, the intricately layered textures bubble up to something akin to hope.

The crux of Night Places’ power comes from the tension created between the light, ambient synth washes and the more gothic noise treatments, some of which feel like a Crystal Castles b-side. The deep sunken grooves the artist creates are simultaneously chill and unnerving - a feat not easily accomplished.