AMG Review of Bleeding Light

Kenyon Hopkin
All Music Guide

There have been a lot of albums dedicated to or about New York City in recent years, but none quite like this one. Following his ambient Pure Tone Audiometry and Or You Could Just..., Aarktica's Jon DeRosa wanders into yet another territory. Although it may not be one that fans of the previous records are used to, it shows his diversity nonetheless. Displaying interest in free jazz and avant-garde, Bleeding Light combines electronics with horns, guitar and sometimes downcast, yet soft vocals. An exception arrives with "A Wash a Sea Goodbye It's Me," which is more or less accessible and warm. Otherwise, gloomy tones are produced by guitar, percussion, trumpet or saxophone, with processed sounds lingering in the gaps. Bleeding Light finishes with the words "everyone of us is lost in our own way," capping what represents a less desirable side of New York, but one that may not be sufficiently acknowledged.