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Jun 6, 2024[Aftab’s voice] is the gold thread that is woven through the aforementioned musical tapestry. Singing in Urdu and English, Aftab delivers a breathtaking performance that floats above the album as a guiding star. Further, Aftab has a keen knowledge of when to take control of the music and when to let the music speak for itself, which only adds to the ethereal atmosphere created throughout the album.
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May 31, 2024With a wide range of collaborators — Cautious Clay, Chocolate Genius (aka Marc Anthony Thompson, Tessa’s father), pianist Vijay Iyer and longtime accompanists Petros Klampanis on bass, harpist Maeve Gilchrist and keyboardist James Francies — “Night Reign,” contrary to its title, is a brighter but no less beautiful take on Aftab’s music.
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May 29, 2024With Night Reign, Aftab makes an emotional and sonic pivot. Across nine vibrant, experimental compositions, she reclaims darkness, positioning the night as a time of mischief and enchantment.
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Jun 17, 2024Throughout the history of recorded music, there’s a long list of works that are best experienced at night, under the cover of stars: Miles Davis‘ Kind of Blue, Portishead‘s Dummy, Radiohead‘s Kid A. You can add Arooj Aftab’s beautiful Night Reign to the upper echelon of that list.
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Jun 5, 2024These are deep, emotional, sometimes bruising songs, though the insinuation of total darkness belies the exquisiteness of its spiritually rigorous forty-eight minutes.
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UncutMay 29, 2024Her songs feel so neatly woven that they deny all attempts to tease them apart. Listening to Night Reign, you mostly find yourself focusing on Aftab’s voice – a rich and smoky thing, gentle and open-hearted on “Whiskey”, reaching back through the centuries on “Na Gul”. But it also shows she has a keen eye for a collaborator. [Jul 2024, p.29]
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May 31, 2024“Whiskey” comes to terms with what turns out to be an album-long treatise on love. The emotional and theoretical aspects out of the way, she assesses a flawed, drink-loving co-human and decides she can work with imperfection. The moment is captured in bright, awakening tones where dawn is first noticed by the ears. Dawn in New York, where she lives. Spectacularly, among us.
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May 31, 2024Though actual percussion remains sparse, Night Reign grooves harder than its predecessor, which featured almost no drums. Even when the rhythm instruments sit back, there’s almost always a sense of an insistent pulse.
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MojoMay 29, 2024Dizzied, delirious, conflicted, Night Reign draws in tight around you. [Jul 2024, p.91]
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May 29, 2024A sparse, percussive version of jazz standard Autumn Leaves fragments its gentle melody into jagged shapes, only finding respite in James Francies’ journeying Rhodes solo. Nonetheless, Night Reign is a welcome step forward, demonstrating how Aftab’s voice isn’t just a soothing presence but can also evoke everything from solipsism to eroticism and anxiety over these mercurial and moody soundscapes.
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May 29, 2024All Aftab's earlier recordings are captivating. That said, Night Reign is a powerful, sensuous, and commanding illustration of the artist's mature vision. It reveals just how receptive, and even vulnerable she is to the spirits of creative inquiry, possibility, and revelation.
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May 29, 2024She has worlds in her voice, as intimate and expansive as her own imagination.
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