NTHNL’s “Cosmic Flute Rides Again”

03/21/2023

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts music review of NTHNL’s “Cosmic Flute Rides Again” album release.

An album of flute music is not something I would usually be that interested in…but NTHNL’s “Cosmic Flute Rides Again” is not your usual flute music.

Stream “Cosmic Flute Rides Again” on Spotify.

Jacob Rudin is a classically trained pianist, composer and sound healer. This album is his homage to the most ancient instrument on the planet and one whose sound seems intrinsically connected to our most human traits, the flute. But this is not your grandma’s flute music…no offense to grannie. This music bends the flute narrative quite a bit in fact. In a hugely entertaining and sometimes challenging way.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of ‘flute’ in this album. But it’s woven cleverly into a variety of musical genres, sometime in the same track.

It’s as if NTHNL is using the flute as they would a human voice, and by doing so make an intriguing commentary on storytelling as songwriting and how we listen to instruments that speak no words and how they somehow imbue each note with meaning and nuance as clear as a human voice.

It’s also a lot of fun! Delightful in fact, and danceable and thinkable and very, very relatable.

So it was a lovely surprise to me that I liked this album so much. It’s an ‘open your mind’ kind of moment for me. A piece of advice I highly suggest that you take, give “Cosmic Flute Rides Again” a listen…turn it up!!

Watch the official music video for “Our Secret” on Youtube.