Born to a family of creatives, Ash K is exploring the realms of darkwave, post-punk indietronica processing gloomy, melancholic and dour themes as Clean Beast.
Despite the efforts of his family to push him away from music and the arts, Ash was still drawn to creating as a method to cope after a music therapist suggested he write a song about his recent experiences.The Naarm/ Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist-producer has run with that idea for series of singles the last year or so. With a debut EP in the works, Clean Beast's latest effort is titled 'Darkness' that leans into his relationship with depression and how it fuels his creativity.
A metallic, buoyant beat instantly emerges, hosting a frenetic almost feverish energy that captures your attention. With Clean Beast's vocals heavily reminiscent of The Presets' Julian Hamilton, Ash's deep baritone is a welcoming presence as the electronica soundscape delves deeper into dark and bruised tones, the song's pace ever quickening.
There's hints of post-punk and new romanticism with waves of Joy Division and Ultravox felt, but at its heart 'Darkness' is a brooding dance jam that harnesses negative zeal to fuse an uplifting, if somewhat moody, EDM banger ideally suited for a dimly lit cavernous, subterranean stage.
"'Darkness' is a fusion of Depeche Mode and UK bounce. The result? Gloom you can move to," declares Ash.
Ahead of the song's release on Friday (16 May), today scenestr is thrilled to premiere 'Darkness'. Enjoy.
"I had this super simple bassline stuck in my head, so I started by recording a loop on my FX pedal," Ash adds. "Then it was time for the banal songwriter trick: I looked around the room – it was dark, I was miserable and the song just wrote itself."
With layered cinematic textures merging atmospheric tension with an emotional core, Clean Beast reflects on the theme of depression and its ever-present relationship with creativity.
"On the surface ['Darkness' is] about depression," Ash explains, "but underneath, it's really about the creative process. It deals with depression as this dark valley one must go through to encounter the light of creation."
Framing depression as both adversary and inevitable companion, the track explores the challenges of navigating these crippling phases as a prelude to creative clarity.
"The song itself was a journey through that depression. I didn't know where it was going but I realised I had to accept it, as I have to accept depression when I'm going through it. It's hard to see depression as a journey, or a phase along that larger journey, but it proves to be so every time."
