Salt of the Sound - Meditations Vol. 6

A Closer Listen

What is ambient music for?  Some might say ambient music is meant to be played in the background. Others say it is meant to help listeners to relax.  A third form of ambient music offers something deeper: a spiritual connection.  This potential for rejuvenation be found on Meditations Vol. 6, reflective of I will consider all your works and meditate on your mighty deeds.  

Husband and wife duo Anita and Ben Tatlow, known as Salt of the Sound, are joined here by special guests whose contributions are seamlessly integrated.  The point of the album is to offer peace, perhaps even the peace that passeth understanding, as made apparent in track titles such as “Peace, With You,” “Quietude” and “Be Still, The Waves.”

“Vespers,” referencing a sunset prayer service, leads off the album and soothes from the very start.  Anita’s vocal recalls Enya, whose music also possesses a spiritual tone.  On “Peace, With You,” her voice is softer, a hush above the waves.  The music is unhurried, in no rush to get anywhere, but it does have a destination: the centering of the soul.  As the world grows angrier and more divided, the music – and the message behind it – are panaceas.  “Through Tribulations” recognizes the fact that life includes struggle (I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.).  “Be Still, The Waves” echoes its title, as the composition is about waves being stilled while the music surges with crests of piano and strings.  The strings move upfront in “Overflow (Instrumental),” a new version of last year’s single, whose second (and closing) verse is “Tear down these walls we built with our lives / That I would walk, that I would overflow to be loved / And to love.”  The world is offering one path, and the Tatlows another.

In “In Quietude,” Anita’s voice soars again, reflecting the distance traveled since “Vespers”; there is confidence to be heard, a blessed assurance.  By the time the birds of “Morningtide” sing, the night is over, the day is come.  This distilled period of time – from evening to morning – is both a parable and a promise.  The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.  (Richard Allen)