Sometimes the best music happens when you stop trying to make everything perfect. You pick up an instrument, follow a feeling, and see where the moment takes you. British artist Ashley Ray Simon, based in Portugal, leans into that unpredictable creative energy on “Strange Animals,” a fascinating new single that puts instinct, spontaneity and human imperfection front and centre.
Serving as the title track and first single from his debut album Strange Animals, released on September 25, 2026, the song marks another intriguing turn in Simon’s evolving musical journey. His earlier releases have explored everything from stripped-back live performances to expansive band arrangements and experimental pop shaped by heartbreak. Here, he moves further into the space where electronic rhythms meet raw, human expression, creating something that feels intimate, unpredictable, and a little wild.
What makes “Strange Animals” particularly interesting is the way it embraces the unexpected. Rather than locking every beat into a perfectly measured rhythm, Simon allows the drum machines to wander, giving the music a loose, elastic pulse. The guitars bring a gritty closeness, while his vocal performance carries an almost physical intensity, as if the emotion is being worked out in real time. The result is music that feels alive because it leaves room for things to happen naturally.
That approach isn’t just a production trick. It’s central to the song’s identity. Simon began with an uninterrupted jam, playing guitar while producer Moses van den Bogaerde worked with an unquantized DrumBrute. The initial session quickly revealed something worth keeping. Simon then picked up a microphone with a book of Byron in hand, and the melody and lyrics arrived together in a single performance. Remarkably, around 95 percent of what listeners hear comes from that first take, with the recording simply edited down afterwards.
Even a small creative accident became part of the finished track. Simon initially sang a trumpet line as a temporary placeholder, but rather than replacing it, he kept it. That decision says a lot about the spirit of the project: sometimes the unexpected detail is exactly what gives a song its personality.
Lyrically, “Strange Animals” explores the contradictions that make us human, moving between beauty and destruction, instinct and grace. There’s an untamed quality to the song, but it isn’t simply about chaos for chaos’s sake. It feels like an attempt to reconnect with something more immediate, before overthinking takes control. Simon also draws on a sense of nostalgia for a time when attention wasn’t constantly being pulled in different directions, giving the track a reflective undercurrent beneath its experimental surface.
Sonically, the single occupies an intriguing space between downtempo, bedroom pop and freak folk. Listeners familiar with the music of Nick Drake, Little Dragon and Chet Faker may appreciate the broad territory Simon is exploring, although his emphasis on improvisation and imperfect rhythms gives the track its own distinctive character.
The project also extends beyond the music itself. Simon is developing this new body of work with multi-instrumentalist Derrick J. Hines, while visual artist Jamie Preisz builds a visual world alongside the releases. Together with van den Bogaerde’s production, these collaborations help establish Strange Animals as a wider creative chapter rather than simply another standalone single.
What ultimately makes “Strange Animals” compelling is its willingness to leave the rough edges intact. In a world where every detail can be polished, corrected, and carefully arranged, Simon finds value in the first impulse, the imperfect rhythm, and the fleeting moment that might never happen the same way twice. It’s an approach that gives the song an organic energy and makes its experimental choices feel purposeful rather than purely abstract.
With “Strange Animals,” Ashley Ray Simon invites listeners to loosen their grip on perfection and follow the feeling instead. It’s an unconventional, instinct-driven introduction to his upcoming body of work, celebrating the beautiful unpredictability of being human.
Ashley Ray Simon turns creative spontaneity into an absorbing musical experience on ‘Strange Animals’
