“Reetoxa turns two difficult chapters into songs that feel less like memories and more like places you can still return to.”
Reetoxa’s Double A Side 2 (Akaroa / Erica And The Stars) is a deeply personal two-song release that turns difficult experiences into something unexpectedly beautiful. The EP opens with “Akaroa,” a song that carries an almost dreamlike sense of mystery. Inspired by an intense dream and later completed during a visit to the New Zealand town that shares its name, the track feels like a piece of a much larger story finding its way back to its writer years later. There is something intimate about hearing a song return after being lost for so long, and that feeling gives “Akaroa” much of its emotional pull. Rather than explaining everything, Reetoxa allows the song to sit somewhere between memory, grief, spirituality, and imagination.
“Erica And The Stars” takes the EP somewhere even more expansive. Written during an extremely difficult period in Jason Mckee’s life, the song became a way of reconnecting with creativity when everything around him felt overwhelming. What makes the finished recording particularly striking is the Budapest Orchestra, which was arranged to reflect the orchestral music Mckee imagined while writing the song. That ambition gives the track a cinematic quality, while the contributions from musicians including James Ryan, Kit Riley, Peter Martin, Terry Hart, and Jessica Mcpherson-Riley help turn the idea into a fully realized production. The two karaoke versions may appear simple on paper, but they also give listeners a chance to hear the arrangements more clearly and appreciate the songwriting and musicianship underneath the finished vocal performances.
What ultimately makes Double A Side 2 work is the contrast between these two songs. “Akaroa” feels intimate and mysterious, while “Erica And The Stars” reaches outward with a much larger orchestral sound, but both come from moments that left a lasting mark on Mckee. After decades of songwriting and the release of his earlier album Soliloquy, Reetoxa continues to build a body of work where real life is the starting point rather than simply a source of lyrical inspiration. There is no need to force these songs into a neat explanation; their strength comes from the fact that they feel lived-in. This is music about finding something worth holding onto, and turning that feeling into songs that can exist long after the original moment has passed.
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