Ambient music—ah, ambient music. If you’ve been following my reviews for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard me wax poetic about ambient at length. The genre seems to exist in this intangible space outside of traditional musical frameworks, unbound by constraints like hooks, choruses, or even conventional melodies.

But more intriguingly, ambient transcends something even deeper: the illusion of time itself. It hovers in a state of permanent suspension, ever-present yet elusive, never bound by the rules of immediacy that plague our daily lives. And it’s exactly this strange timelessness that continuously pulls me back in, no matter how many records I sift through in a given week. So when I saw that Sunbeam42, an artist I’ve been following with increasing curiosity, had finally dropped the follow-up to her hypnotically serene 2021 offering, Land After Rain, my curiosity piqued instantly.

Now, in the tradition of films or novels, we have an ambient album that proudly wears the badge of sequel on its sleeve: Land After Rain, Pt. 2. It’s intriguing right from the title itself, explicitly promising continuity, depth, and expansion. Ambient records rarely get sequels—sure, they might get companions or reissues—but labeling it a direct “Part 2” sets expectations and creates the impression of a grander narrative at play, one that Sunbeam42 has clearly been cultivating behind the scenes.

Before we dive deeper into the fabric of the album itself, let’s quickly set the scene. For those unfamiliar—and honestly, I’d be surprised if you’re tuning into Pitchfork without at least some ambient awareness—Sunbeam42 is a key player in the ambient and new age circles, boasting an impressive discography of nine albums and two EPs. Her aesthetic is marked by a mystical edge, a subtle nod to fantasy elements, and an earnest appreciation for nature. Her works speak to a quiet spirituality, a careful exploration of the unseen energies that bind our inner world to the natural realm around us. Sunbeam42 builds full-on soundscapes — immersive spaces that feel like locations, complete and self-contained. Everything in her music moves, breathes, and hovers somewhere beyond the bounds of time. This album opens up a world with continuous structure and a fully realized form.

This deep, immersive quality returns fully realized on Land After Rain, Pt. 2. Sunbeam42 herself has described the inspiration as “the way nature is entwined with my spirituality,” adding that it reflects her “desire to protect and reflect on the quiet intelligence of Earth.” And that quiet intelligence truly resonates through every moment of this seven-track album. It’s pure, contemplative ambient—meditative in a way that makes it simultaneously incredibly engaging yet gentle enough that it feels like breathing rather than listening.

Ambient, at its most powerful, becomes an almost philosophical endeavor. I’ve found myself pondering, more times than I care to count, why ambient resonates so deeply with certain listeners and not others. It poses questions about personality, spirituality, our relationship with memory, and even how each person uniquely experiences sound itself. It’s fascinating to consider that while other genres often need lyrics to spark deep introspection, ambient can achieve the same effect using nothing more than textures, space, and subtle movements of tone and pitch. Sunbeam42 understands this inherently. The album music definitely chills you out — yeah, ambient lowers heart rate and helps you relax, that’s proven stuff. But that’s just the surface. What she’s really doing is opening a door. Her tracks pull you inward, get you thinking clearer, and sometimes hit you with that weird sense that you’re tapping into something way bigger than yourself.

Stillness in Motion

Land After Rain, Pt. 2 is a carefully curated journey that captures precisely this experience. While each track is around six or seven minutes, the album flows seamlessly from beginning to end, a continuous sonic narrative that gently guides the listener along. There’s no point attempting a traditional track-by-track breakdown here, because this album simply doesn’t operate on those terms. It would feel artificial and reductive—like reviewing individual brushstrokes instead of stepping back to appreciate a painting as a whole. Instead, the album invites listeners to engage with it holistically, to let themselves drift within its tides of sound, emerging changed, calmed, and somehow enriched.

Sunbeam42 draws heavily on natural elements—birdsong, rustling leaves, distant rains—but beneath these organic textures, there is an undeniable cosmic pulse. Yes, she emphasizes nature as central to her spiritual expression, but as I immersed myself deeper into Land After Rain, Pt. 2, I kept sensing this undercurrent of cosmic connectedness. Nature, after all, is inseparable from the universe itself; the earth beneath our feet is merely a tiny fragment of the grand cosmic tapestry. So, while the album is ostensibly about the earth, it simultaneously suggests our place in a broader, boundless universe—making it expansive and intimate all at once.

I found myself becoming hyper-aware of my internal state—an effect that not all ambient music achieves. At times it became clarifying, sharpening my mental focus, quieting the incessant chatter of the modern mind. At others, it colored my perceptions, imbuing everyday moments with warmth, vibrancy, and even nostalgia. It’s uncanny, really, how music devoid of explicit narratives or lyrics can evoke such precise emotional responses. Listening to Sunbeam42’s soundscapes feels like returning home to a familiar but forgotten place in the mind—one that’s comforting, timeless, and quietly joyful.

Land After Rain, Pt. 2 arrives with calm presence and zero pressure to prove itself. It’s calm, steady, fully formed — and if you give it time, it quietly pulls you in. This goes way beyond background noise or passive listening. It’s ambient that actually goes somewhere. Sunbeam42 taps into stuff that feels personal and weirdly universal at the same time — connection, memory, whatever that thing is that makes you feel small in the best way.

You can come in as a longtime ambient nerd or just someone who hit play out of curiosity — either way, it lands. The record takes its time. It draws you in slowly, like it knows exactly what it’s doing. By the time it wraps, you’re just sitting there — no overthinking, just a shift in how everything feels. Land After Rain, Pt. 2 by Sunbeam42 leaves space open — and somehow, you end up filling it with your own thoughts.

*This review was made possible by SubmitHub