Park Jiha
All living Things

All Living Things has calm tones and an unconditional affection for the cycles of the natural world. The addition of electronic components to an acoustic setup made in Korea has a relaxing effect, smoothing out the harshest edges with an engaging positivity. Connections are sought for a hope that brings happiness. The album presents itself as a series of mantras, like a perfect meditative exercise, suitable for any time of day. The linked titles of the opening tracks, First Buds, Grounding, Bloom, and A Story of Little Birds, sing the awakening of spring rhythms. The chimes of the opening, played sparingly, act as a call to non-religious worship, yet immersive in the umbral nature of woods and waters. Grounding is relatively faster, more engaging, and physically interpretable. Bare feet are placed on the fresh, damp ground, and deep breaths are taken, establishing that the feet act as a rooted connection with the natural world, arriving, with a very slow time-lapse mutation, first at the sprout-man and then to the tree-man. The flute and glockenspiel take center stage in Bloom, and one can perceive the uncertain and slight rustling of flowers opening to the sun. When the rhythm picks up again in A Story of Little Birds, one imagines the first flights from the bold trajectories of swallows. These tracks are a reminder of the coming season and the possibilities inherent in cycles, both physical and spiritual. Growth Ring brings the subject to the sultry heat of summer, and the perspective of someone looking back at their life and realizing that not only have they survived, but perhaps also grown. The growth ring of a tree also carries a memory of experiences of floods and droughts, years of storms and years of serenity. Conversely, Blown Leaves looks forward to autumn, but with less trepidation in light of what has happened before. When acclimating to the cycles of nature, one need not fear transition, after the storm the sun returns. In the last three pieces, Park Jiha does not turn to winter, as expected, except in a symbolic sense. The closing tracks imply with somber sounds the decline towards death, but in The Eternal Path, death is just a moment, an emerald ray in the eternal cycle. All Living Things travels from youth to old age, heralding eternity, perhaps for comfort and encouragement in the thought that we are and will remain travelers of time and possible worlds, beyond the seasons.