It’s as good a time as any to try to fully disconnect from the world mentally. There is too much going on, way too much of it heartbreaking and infuriating. Doom scrolling is reaching levels of mental melt that frankly is terrifying. Trying to tune out the noise and get back in touch with ourselves might not be the easiest thing to pull off, but it’s worth a try.

Just when we need them most, Wrekmeister Harmonies return with “Flowers in the Spring,” the title alone signaling hope and rebirth from a natural perspective that could perhaps soothe some of our wounds. The long-running duo of JR Robinson and Esther Shaw shows obvious restraint on this four-track record. It’s immersive from front to back, calling you into a warming bath of isolation and reflection, letting the lapping melodies, dream-state drone, and luminescent gloom take over your imagination. It’s not heavy musically in the classic state, but taking on these songs shows their weight, their perspective, and it’s excellent listening after a long period of sustaining far too much negativity from your surrounding environment. For that, this music is crucial.

The title track opens and brings revolving sounds and cosmic weirdness, guitars scraping as the light bursts. Keys blur and continue to rotate, the drone stretching over fields of fever dream, sounds frying as the keys turn, a clouded vision rising and then falling mercifully. “Fuck the Pigs” doesn’t delve into rage, despite the title, but it’s mood is dark and foreboding, even as waves of calm wash over you. Slight ticks sit under the waves of illumination while the cloud coverage adds dark gray, the gentle repetition of sounds encircling, creating a halo effect. The haze continues to build as sounds drip, guitars liquify and form a tributary, and all of that slowly fades into time.

“A Shepherd Stares into the Sun” is the longest piece at 20:51, and it brings brighter smears, synth beams, and a sense of hope into the void. Melodies glow underneath a storm-promising sky, corrosion leaking out of corners, a synth blanket bringing a sense of warmth, swimming through sonic waves. The playing turns mesmerizing and dreamy, electric waves and synth lines uniting, guitar squalls scorching and cauterizing. Closer “Flowers Variation” brings a deep-sea feel combined with alien disconnect, feeling like you’re moving deeper into the blackness. As you scrape the bottom of the sea, keys vibrate as everything grows colder and more remote, sounds swallowed by the crust.

Wrekmeister Harmonies sound as intimately moved and as consumed by mysterious shadows as ever, and their minimalist approach to this record makes for an adventure that can be equally serene as foreboding. “Flowers in the Spring” is incredibly immersive stuff, music that you can use for meditation, mentally unfolding your traumas, and delicately looking toward the future, as volatile as that is. This band continues to innovate and evolve even when pulling back the reins as much as they do here, and it’s a listening experience that will soak you thoroughly.

For more on the band, go here: https://wrekmeisterharmonies.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://thrilljockey.com/products/flowers-in-the-spring

For more on the label, go here: https://thrilljockey.com/index