Tracks composed and played by Xavier Reyé on Ableton Live about twelve years ago, then reworked today with AI.
Songs written in 2012–2013 in a home studio: drums programmed in Ableton Live, bass, guitars and piano recorded at home, and vocals from SoundCloud collaborations with Vadim Zeberg, Shem Zee and others.
Some of these tracks now go back through AI, to give them the sound they couldn’t have back then. Several start from field recordings made by Alan Lomax in the American South, African American songs handed down from slavery: the voices were transformed with Suno, and the lyrics reworked by Xavier Reyé. The artists on each track are credited under its title.
Music, reworked lyrics, production: Xavier Reyé · Original field recordings: Alan Lomax
Folk · Field hollerRaw and warm
Fingerpicked acoustic guitar, vintage tape saturation; raspy male voice, half-spoken verses, field-holler refrains with call-and-response.
Music, reworked lyrics, production: Xavier Reyé · Original field recordings: Alan Lomax
Trip-hop · DowntempoDark and cinematic
Dusty boom bap breaks, Rhodes, upright bass, analog arpeggios; soulful female voice, then a powerful male lead and male choir in call-and-response, big drop into the chorus.
Music, lyrics, production: Xavier Reyé · Chorus and title: Shem Zee
Trip-hop · Garage bluesSlow, intimate and raw
Saturated analog tape, sampled drums, Rhodes, organ, mellotron strings, tremolo guitar and muted trumpet; fragile, breathy female voice, soul-blues male chorus with gospel warmth.
Composed and played on Ableton Live about twelve years ago, with all instruments performed by Xavier Reyé (guitar, bass, drums, piano), then reworked today with AI. The hook and title line, "Your heart is broken after all", came from Shem Zee, a singer met on SoundCloud at the time, who sang it on the original demo. The voices were then entirely recreated with Suno, and the lyrics written by Xavier Reyé around that line. Music, lyrics, production: Xavier Reyé. Hook and title line: Shem Zee.
Music, reworked lyrics, production: Xavier Reyé · Original field recordings: Alan Lomax
Trip-hop · DowntempoDark and explosive
90s sample-based downtempo: Rhodes, upright bass, boom bap breaks, synth arpeggios and outrun leads; soulful female voice against a roaring male lead, work-song call-and-response chorus.
© 2026 Xavier Reyé and the credited artists. All rights reserved. Listening for personal use; any download, broadcast, sync or reuse requires permission.