A departure from his usual sound, “Creation, Cremation, Compression, Compassion” includes 4 beats of the same titles that bend the rules both conventionally and sonically. It is also highly conceptual as each track, and title, pertain to a part of Reckonize Real’s life, in dealing with the effects of anxiety and addiction.

CREATION, which can refer to being born or creating music, is more a reference to coming of age. As a teenager experimenting with drugs was commonplace, not something to be proud of, but none the less something that has built who Reck is today. This beat has been in creation since 2010. Starting as a short loop off vinyl, with added mpc drums in a basic program. Over the years it has evolved into something more abstract with different synth lines and effected drum loops being added.

CREMATION, relates not only to the many friends he knew that have lost their life to drugs, but also to the dying of the person he once was. Learning from your own mistakes is hard enough but learning from the mistakes of others helped turn his old self to ash. A repetitive eerie sample repeats “die” with some layered keys and electronic drums. Assisted with some dialogue from a indie film titled “Death and Cremation”, it fades into ACT ii, a second version using the same dark mantra with big drums and even bigger bass-line courtesy of Joseph Beaty.

COMPRESSION, probably the most grounded of the bunch. You’ll hear Reck’s signature drums and piercing snare drive the track, while experimenting with different compression and filtering technics. Not by coincidence, this one would refer to the growing pressure of staying away from drugs and dealing with lowering the volumes of addiction and anxiety. Anyone who has dealt with either, knows that it’s the piecing voice in your head which is so hard to suppress.

COMPASSION, reflects the feeling for those going through the same types of issues, and family/friends dealing with loss. The vocal part of the sample combines at the climax of the track to almost sounds like “Shadows of the heart”. It carries a very lofi vibe, helping to feel the warmth and solitude of the track.

In addition, the date (12/21) is symbolic. It’s the birth date or Reck’s daughter, which happens to also be the winter solstice. Of course the month and the day are flipped, but it also references the romans passage “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. This was unintentional but all makes sense.

In closing Reckonize Real simply states: “I hope you can relate, not so much to the experiences behind each track, but either meaning of the titles, or the date, and enjoy the abstract sounds”.