Jake Muir droned and zoned briefly and brightly in Seattle's experimental-electronic-music underground for a few years before heading down to LA in early 2018 to try to get into the soundtrack/sound-design game. Before that, though, he released a strong LP on Further Records, Muara (2016), under the Monadh alias and another top chiller on Dragon's Eye, Acclimation (2017). He also played Corridor Fest and some Chapel Performance Space gigs, but in general, Muir flew under the radar of most heads.

Since moving south, Muir's released a new album for Manchester, England's Sferic Records, Lady's Mantle. The nine-track opus floats on a wave of radically altered, microscopic samples from a famous rock band. The sonic alchemy is so extreme, though, you'd never be able to discern the source. More important than that fact is the result: serene ambient aquascapes that do what the most earnest New Age records strive for, but without the belabored liner notes and overplayed "nature" snippets. It might be hyperbole to say that "High Tide" is healing music, but if it doesn't lower your heart rate and massage your overtaxed mind and tense muscles into a state of deep relaxation, I'll be quite surprised. Hearing it during this heatwave is like an icy aural bath that centers you while keeping reality at a safe distance... for four-and-a-half minutes, at least.