Slow and Steady With Steven Halpern’s New Album: Cannabis Dreams

Music has multiple reasons both for the musicians and also for the listeners–right from being the muse of a reflective moment, it could give wings to your imagination like no other medium, and at the same time, it offers an enveloping and disarming power to quiet your mind, and also offering a positive, reasonable and respected way of entertainment. I love it when it helps you to connect within yourself and explore the higher realms of your existence in a way of mindful meditation and curtaining the activity-filled environment around you to allow you to relax and rejuvenate.

Though this is the first time I am listening to Steven Halpern’s music, he is a veteran and truly an expert in the sound healing field where you see (or rather hear) the magic of sounds having a measurable impact on your body and mind. With his new album, he has weaved the impact he is famous for.

Album Name: Cannabis Dreams

Artist Name: Steven Halpern

Total Time: 78:39

There are eleven songs on the album and all of them have different tastes and instrumentation.

The very first song takes you riding on ethereal planes reminding the work of Jennifer Grais on the album “They Were Here” with Byron Metcalf. The other-worldly vocals of Kristin Hoffmann set the course for your journey right from the start, and you hear another mesmerizing song from her in the third track.

You will notice the subtle drone of Indian Tanpura in the 2nd and 4th tracks, allowing you to peacefully slip into meditative reveries where you let the non-stop crisscrossing of the mind rest and come to a state of strange quiet.

I loved the play between the bass clarinet by Paul McCandless and the fretless bass by Michael Manring in “OG Sonic Chronic”. Reminded me of Shankar Tucker who has improvised his very instrument (clarinet) to suitably play the deeper nuances of the Indian Ragas. The song goes to great depths and lends a beautiful calming effect on the mind. Easily a song to be played on loop for a long time!

Another sweet song, mimicking the baritone sound of the didgeridoos, “Plant Medicine” settles like a leaf on the still water of a placid lake.

“Joint Venture”, being one of the two smallest songs on the album, introduces you to digital ambient sounds. Like an inter-stellar rendezvous, it allows you to leave the plane of earth.

“Maui Wowie Dreams” is the second-longest song and offers lush green strokes of the piano. Refreshing and dreaming of a place far off, the thoughtful space between the notes makes you wonder why there is so much dynamic chaos rampant in the world when disconnecting from the outer and connecting within offer so much bliss.

I imagine Steven standing on a huge rock with a magic musical wand in his hand and directing the choir–with every movement and swaying of his arm, he sends a healing wave in the atmosphere. Our world needs such true efforts which can bring some balance because whatever inherently shallow pursuits we yearned for, yielded a little and led us to a point where everything seemed to collapse.

Reset your whole being with relaxing sonic “Cannabis Dreams” and enjoy the inner worlds!