In "Earthly", Peter Phippen and Ivar Lunde, Jr. invite us into the hallowed terrain where time stands still, and sound flows as freely as breath. Imagine wandering into a forest not bound by gravity, where each step reveals the world’s hidden music, resonating through icy lakes, ancient bamboo, and the quiet sigh of distant, shadowed landscapes. It’s a journey that isn’t just heard; it’s felt in the deep hum of our bones, reverberating with a primordial familiarity. Phippen’s flutes - a fascinating array from Edo-period shakuhachi to Native American styles - do not merely echo nature; they commune with it, suspending us in the weightless wonder of Earth’s raw voice.

Phippen, a Grammy-nominated flutist and self-professed space music devotee, finds his perfect counterpoint in Norwegian-born composer Ivar Lunde Jr., whose deft touch on synths and textures enhances the album’s depth. Together, they weave soundscapes that are as vast as the heavens and as intimate as a single, dew-dropped leaf. Lunde doesn’t just accompany the flute; he cocoons it, blending field recordings from frozen Minnesota lakes and shimmering ambient layers into something that feels less like a composition and more like a natural phenomenon. The sound flows as if time itself had been melted down and forged anew, forming six expansive, long-form tracks.

The album opens with the title track, “Earthly”, where flutes and synthesizers blend like fog lifting in dawn’s first light. Each note feels like a revelation, as though the instruments themselves had patiently waited for millennia to finally speak. In “Eye of the Day” and “Essence”, we drift deeper, meeting sunlit melodies and eerie nocturnal whispers in equal measure. It’s a little unsettling, like being lulled by a lullaby sung by wolves and wind. And yet, it’s irresistible. By the time we reach “Dreams of Blue”, we’ve left solid ground entirely, immersed in a dreamlike sea that laps gently at our consciousness.

But what truly elevates "Earthly" is the subtle undercurrent of irony in its conception. Here we have Phippen and Lunde conjuring Earth's raw voice, which humankind has often ignored, defaced, or taken for granted. And yet, here we are, gathered in awe to witness its splendor in music, as if to remind ourselves of all we’re missing. In "Earthly", nature becomes sacred and sentient, humbling the listener with each note, yet playfully ironic - a gentle nudge for us to wonder why we need an album to remember what we should have never forgotten.

In this age of disconnection (with nature, but often with mind and soul), "Earthly" doesn’t just invite us back to nature; it compels us to embrace it with a reverence that is long overdue. To listen to this album is to breathe with the earth itself, to hold in each sound the simple, profound truth that we are - and have always been - part of this timeless song.