About five years ago during the COVID pandemic, I stumbled across an artist named Nicholas Gunn. I heard his song “A Place in My Heart” and I was instantly transfixed. Honestly, it was a difficult time, not just because of the state of the world, and his music was a ray of sunshine that helped soothe my nerves.

So, I gobbled up his 1994 album The Sacred Fire, moved onto his Grand Canyon albums, fell in love with his Under the Influence of Music and Through the Great Smoky Mountains records, and was thrilled by his newer albums Riding the Thermals, Pacific Blue, and Sound Condition. His style has changed so much in the last 30 years, and he is getting ready to release an album that celebrates those decades. It’s called 30 and releases on August 1^st.

When he first set out, Nicholas played an organic, diverse New Age music that reveled in mist, mystery, and origins. He found great success with his Grand Canyon albums, selling them through gift stores and other atypical means. Over the years, he moved into electronic music, often with guest vocalists, and so this album combines those two sounds into something commemorative, nostalgic, and beautiful.

I’ll be the first one to admit that I prefer his instrumental pieces, mainly because the vocalists tend to lean towards the pop realm more than I connect with, and also because there’s just nothing like Nick emoting quiet courage through his voiceless songs. That said, the tracks with vocalists on this album are all wonderful and catchy; the guest singers being Chris Howard, Alina Renae (a regular contributor), Jordan Grace, and Brittany Egbert, some of whom you can hear through Nick’s Blue Dot Music label that he started a few years ago.

The album has eighteen tracks and is quite a journey, though the four closing songs are remixes. I’ll split my favorites into vocals and instrumental. For vocal tracks, I really like “I Remember You”, a soft and nuanced piece with a hook that sticks with you, even if it is subtle. “Miss You” is a gorgeous track that I find engaging, but I’ll readily admit that I prefer the trance version at the end of the album. In fact, I’m a sucker for trance and prefer those versions on all of them. I think my favorite vocal track is “Desert Sky”; I love Brittany’s voice and this piece is more like Nick’s older New Age style, so I find it calming and emotional.

Now, Nick really brings it with the instrumental pieces. Right out the gate, we get “Campfire”, a ghostly and warm piece that is instantly fantastic—my god, I love Nick’s flute playing. “Blossom” is a reserved piece with darkness that grows into light and presence; I love the haunting flute near the end. Another favorite is “You Move Me” with its addictive rhythm and spectral flute hovering in the background.

I think the title track is something special. This piece begins as New Age but slowly moves into an electronic beat; it truly seems to encapsulate Nick’s career as a whole, and I love it. I’ll mention a couple more: “Open Your Eyes” with its dangerously elegant violin and subtle chants, and the closer “Stars”, a gentle river of feeling and space. All of the songs on this album are terrific, though, and I really like the trance remixes at the end that take Nick’s sound into new heights and galaxies.

Nicholas Gunn is my favorite New Age artist and his electronic side is incredible, too. His music is like water to dry roots in the soul, like home when you’ve been away too long. If you want something a little different, especially with this being a site that primarily covers progressive music, this is for you.

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Find Nicholas Gunn online:

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Blue Dot Music

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