Various

Since its foundation, Indianapolis-based Healing Sound Propagandist has quietly built a catalog of nearly a hundred releases by a cadre of emerging and established artists, specializing in undiluted doses of textured drone and experimental ambient. To commemorate this prolific run, Retrospective [2019-2024] collects 76 standout tracks over five hours, from the warm tonal blankets of James Bernard (“Never Alone”), to the wispy, boreal loops of UK’s Pallette (“Für What”) and the womb-like warble of Sean Evans (“Repetition”), along with scores of other beautifully rendered works covering a broad range of atmospheres and instrumentations.

As an arm of the renowned Past Inside The Present imprint, HSP maintains a kinship with its creators and followers that only an artist-run house can provide. Label head Zach Frizzell (aka zakè) found himself in need of a dedicated home for deep cuts and longer form works by his vastly talented roster – one where the focus is squarely on the music and energy, rather than narratives, conceits, or other diversions. Across the label’s discography there is a consistency of quality, from ascendant and seasoned artists alike, that has kept supporters eagerly engaged since the very start. A deliberate choice to release exclusively on digital and cassette formats further places the focus on uninterrupted, deep listening.

Throughout Retrospective, there is a gentle and effective pacing that more than justifies its overall span, while venerating the sheer variety of approaches to curative music. UK-based Moss Covered Technology provides the overture, “Glare”, placing soft, flittering synths over gathering swells of sweetened drone, while Chicago’s wøunds delivers a frigid hum underscored by subtle, strummed guitar on “December191920”. Elsewhere, the duo of Blanket Swimming + Gallery Six evokes a sunlit garden in the sustained blush of “With Endless Eyes”, and Amsterdam’s andarctica unfurls the album-length “Pur”, a hypnotic vessel of stunning depth and dimension.

While the term “propagandist” might evoke some staunch political ideology or breed of thought control, its use by HSP is an ironic foil to the earnestness of the music, which is intended to be fully open to interpretation and suitable for all forms of engagement. According to Frizzell, “Our conviction is that healing sounds and meditative music contain transformative powers — this is an ethos we pursue with unwavering passion, putting all our cards on the table and letting the work speak for itself.”

In a culture beset by gimmicks and ghosts in the machines, simplicity and authenticity are in vanishingly short supply; a reliable sanctuary is a real gift, and for six years the curators at Healing Sound Propagandist have kept that notion at the forefront. Across its many topographies and tonalities, Retrospective is a (relatively) concise distillation for the familiar fan, and only a tantalizing toe in the water for the uninitiated, offered in the hope that it might open new entryways to profound listening experiences.