Stirring in its meditative soundscapes, Ontogenesis is the latest album from Brooklyn-based artist NTHNL, the project of flutist and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Rudin. The release follows up last year’s full-length, Cosmic Flute Rides Again, which stood out for its eclectic array of flutes and synths. Ontogenesis captivates in its more meditative glow, featuring spacious soundscapes that align well with practices of yoga or meditation.
Ontogenesis represents the third of NTHNL’s ‘Tranquility Studies’ series of albums. “The idea was born in 2020 around the beginning of the pandemic as a way to formalize my explorations into making music to affect feelings of peace and introspection in listeners,” Rudin explains. “This music combines electronic binaural frequencies with performances on a variety of instruments to create soundscapes that are at once calming, poetic and musical.”
The music uses a technique called brainwave entrainment, which uses certain frequencies to sympathetically vibrate the mind,” Rudin continues. Ontogenesis, in particular, embraced the meditation and yoga spectrum fully. Musician and yoga instructor Leslie Graves played a big role in the album’s creative process; Graves gave keywords for each of the chakras to Rudin, who made an audible interpretation on piano. The order of chakras defines the album’s sequential direction. From the warming orchestral and piano infusions on “Nourishing, Holding” to the gentle nature-sound trickling of “Heart,” Ontogenesis resonates with a consistent sense of contemplative serenity.
Rudin elaborates further:
“I came upon the word ‘Ontogenesis’ in Erwin Schrodinger’s ‘What is life?’ A book written before the discovery of DNA which attempts to find the physical basis for life existing and reproducing itself and coming upon many deep and beautiful ideas. Ontogenesis means the progression of an organism from conception through death. As we move up the body, we move through a life: from before the beginning to after the end, reflecting and accepting at every stage.”
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“Nourishing, Holding” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
