DEBORAH MARTIN & JILL HALEY, Rendering Time

In 2021, drawing on her ever-fascinating palette of sonic intricacies via an array of synths, guitars, South American and Native American drums, visionary new age ambient composer and multi-instrumentalist Deborah Martin conceived the perfect way to celebrate her 30th anniversary with Spotted Peccary Music. She invited longtime friend, veteran recording artist and oboe and English Horn virtuoso to her Dreaming Edge Studio in Washington, where the two launched the first of a fascinating trilogy of recordings exploring the beauty of nature and the ever-elusive mystery of time and contemplating our place in its eternal flow.

Offering a compelling fusion of spacey ambient dreamscapes and soul-stirring earthy tones as a reflection of the natural beauty and wonders of the Pacific Northwest, Martin and Haley’s first dual work The Silence of Grace earned a place on the Zone Music Reporter (ZMR) list of Top 20 albums of the year. Its 2023 follow-up Into the Quiet, was a serene, reflective, spiritually transportive collection that drew its creative breath from an exploration of internal landscapes – inspired by the notion that human beings must travel “into the quiet” to discover what is hidden within.

Martin and Haley continue their multi-faceted, richly textured journey and bring the trilogy to a   transcendent, soothingly emphatic finale with Rendering Time, an immersive, ten-track soul dive that uses their intuitive musical gifts and unique blend of instruments to tap into the concept of time, relevance in our world and, as Martin says, “how it relates to each of us, especially when it comes to the bigger picture of our existence.”

Though thematically less “nature specific” overall than the earlier entries in the trilogy, one of the most mesmerizing, body and soul caressing pieces is “Secrets of the Talking Trees,” an atmospheric, dreamlike meditation that finds us in the thick of the woods, full of awe and wonder while enveloped by the whispers and sighs of the gentle giants that tower above. The duo’s point seems to be that any attempt to understand the vagaries of time must include not only us, but the natural, ever-evolving world surrounding us that will always outlive our brief and misty existence here.

Both artists acknowledge the role that nature played in sparking their majestic, shape- shifting, rhythmically eclectic soundscapes. “Each time Jill was here, we alternated studio days with days out in nature,” Martin says. Haley, who is best known for her numerous albums inspired by America’s National Parks, adds, “My time spent in nature influenced the type of music I created, especially for pieces such as ‘Cenote,’ ‘Soaring’ and ‘Sunlight and Starlight.’ I truly feel that I am given a gift from the beauty surrounding us in our natural environment, and that makes the music flow effortlessly into my fingers and onto the keyboard and wind instruments.”

As with all new age ambient masterworks, albums like Rendering Time are best experienced as straight through, headphones on, no distraction experiences – which in this case, will take listeners from the tranquil and spacious title track (a perfect showcase for the hypnotic wanderings of Haley’s oboe over Martin’s breathtaking ambiences) through “Sunlight and Starlight,” a mystical, tenderly melodic rhythmic guitar/oboe driven invitation to explore the cycles of day and evening, truly life moving in its continual pattern.

Yet since we’re existing and consuming in the singles-driven age of streaming, the duo offered an fierce “preview” of the album by unleashing the vigorous, often anxious and frenetic, seriously mind-bending centerpiece “Fitful Dreams” as the lead single a few weeks before the collection’s release. Over different ambient intensities, the duo places a similarly percussive, echoing motif throughout. It’s like we never know when that flurry of notes will pop up – a reflection of that state in the middle of the night where we’re not awake, yet not asleep and our conscious and subconscious minds race with all sorts of nervous energy. Martin calls this experience “traveling the ethers of time in a mist.”  

For those listening in a non-linear fashion, either of the other two pieces Haley mentioned are sublime entry points as well. “Cenote (Place of Deep Water)” juxtaposes her woodwind musings against an a murky, liquefying backdrop to convey a sacred place of ceremony, where people are summoned to experience healing in the coolness of water and experience the sensation of floating timelessly. “Soaring” has the opposite effect on the senses, with her oboe strains wafting over the ambience and tender strums of Martin’s guitar like a passionate skyward dance.

Another excellent starting place for one’s dive into the wonders and rich soundscapes of Rendering Time is the exquisite, all at once earthbound and spacey “From Source,” the duo’s homage to the primordial, imagining the first human-like creatures emerging from the earth (or is it the cosmos?) into a land thus far unscathed by others. To convey Martin’s idea of the Eternal Mystery, the beginning of all that is, the boundless reality that there’s no actual time in time and the continuous cyclical passages, death and growth, she brings forth a swirl of wind, eerie ambience and constant Native drumbeats. This darkish, murky energy is later balanced by the sweeter, high tones of Haley’s wandering flute and subtle primordial vocalizations.    

Martin came up with the perfect phrases to describe the feelings elicited by and inspiration behind the remaining tracks. The lyrical, free flowing “Spaces Within Spaces,” for instance, is about “locations attained when seeking, a journey beyond the quiet.” “Shadow of the Moon” finds the duo looking up as millions of others have done and finding casual joy (conveyed by rhythm guitar, oboe and celestial-musical “stardust”) in a celebration of its phases and a sense of awe at its gravitational and romantic pull.

The other two pieces tap into the balance of “The Place We Call Home” (our inner selves, our town, our city, our planet, our universe, our all) and our desire, as our pioneer ancestors have done since time immemorial, “to seek and attain the unreachable without fear of the accomplishment” – a vibe the duo artfully conveys on the uplifting, soulful and slightly whimsical “Soaring.”