Sounds Like: A soothing rewriting of your whole perspective.

This isn’t an album; it’s a destination. The first listen severely altered me.

Cassandra Jenkins’ “Overview on Phenomenal Nature” is a sumptuous mediation on life, grief, friendship and, not to put too fine a point on it: existence. From the opening notes of “Michelangelo” you are pulled into Ms. Jenkins world. Some songs float by with but the slightest of instrumentation, while others start to gallop with intent and purpose. Together they breathe as one collective experience.

Which brings me to the third track: “Hard Drive.’ This shouldn’t work: it starts with a recording of a conversation with security guard, it then it moves into the song, which is half spoken word only then to get pulled together by the chorus. It is a masterpiece, clocking in at just over five minutes. I said at the start, this record is a destination. Every time I listen to this it or even just a portion of it, I am returned to a very specific place. It’s a beautiful place, where even the hard parts of life are  not dreaded, but not discounted. They, like me, just are.  We are all calm.  That’s we we are. I’ve had other albums achieve similar feats, but only through familiarity, the bonding that happens over time with repeated listens. “An Overview on Phenomenal Nature” takes you there right out of the gate. It's a powerful feat that makes me in awe of Cassandra Jenkins.

Favorite Track: Listen, “Hard Drive” is a feat unto itself, but “New Bikini” has been my time-out song for months — that track I quickly throw on my headphones during times of stress.