A soft passage to sleep

Lu, also a psychological counselor, notes that the resonance of singing bowls can help slow heart rate and breathing, clear mental clutter, and enhance concentration.

He says, their album with accompanying music aims to help the audience pause and step back from stress to examine its origins and figure out how to release it.

Healing involves addressing persistent discomfort by navigating one's relationship with the external world and with the inner self. It's about tapping into your own strength, he adds.

He believes the benefits will last, expressing hope that their album can offer a pleasant space where the listener can return in stressful times, armed with the awareness, strength and methods for self-adjustment.

To Wang Wenwei, both sound and healing are quite abstract, leaving room for suggestion. "Healing is essentially suggestion," he says.

Wang Lu has nearly two decades' experience in pop and electronic music production. His works include the arrangement for singer-songwriter Li Jian's household Feng Chui Mai Lang (The Wind Blows the Wheat Waves). In recent years, he has increasingly explored how traditional Chinese musical elements can be merged into modern production.

In 2020, Wang Lu worked with Wang Wenwei and the ambient music label Sound Blanc to release their first ambient music album, Blanc Live Vol. 1.

An insomniac plagued by long-term anxiety, Wang Lu started his collaborative exploration with Lu several years ago to wean himself off sleeping pills, whose efficacy was inconsistent and came with chronic side effects.

During this process, Wang Lu and Lu, together with Sound Blanc and other therapists, jointly launched ambient music albums Deep and Qi (Life Energy) in 2021 focused on easing sleep and waking up.

Not many are venturing into this niche field, and in Resonant Stillness, their third attempt, Wang Lu invited his two longtime friends to join hands and push further into the therapeutic use of sound for stress relief.

Wang particularly points out that while people feel overwhelmed and alienated, rest is often ignored. Instead of relaxing, many turn to stimulants like caffeine.

"We're naturally endowed with the ability to relax. It's due to the prolonged exposure to high stress and fast-paced lifestyles that we forget how to relax," Lu says.

"What we're offering is a way to reclaim that natural skill."