Ian Kim Judd’s long-running NTS show Fifth World is a far-out flight into the world of ambient music, serving as a monthly beacon of genuine optimism and ultimate freshness. We asked him to make the first in a new meditative sub-series for Sharp FM, with a cover and tracklist designed by the inimitable artist Laurel Schwulst which highlight’s Connor Davenport’s Greenstone.

"This is a collection of early morning, mid day, late night room-filling music with you, the listener, in mind," says Ian. "It was inspired by a sunset and sunrise that I caught within the same day."

The soft golden light of this mix is given synesthetic sight by Laurel's "Energy Spheres," a forthcoming visualizer that encourages the user to reflect on the energy latent within and around you by making radial gradient portraits. "The process of creating the spheres is very meditative," says Laurel. "I've been using them to create avatars/memorable contact images for my friends. I tried making them while listening to Ian's mix, and it felt very good."

Laurel honed in on Greenstone as the main font for this project. Connor's typeface, a digital homage to Ogg's vernacular lettering through the lens of American and British stone carving, is fundamentally about communication. The connection between these sources recalls the intercultural dialogue between the American and British type design studios during the late 19th through early 20th centuries. It’s an unexpected, yet perfect expression of Gemini energy. Greenstone's large, flaring capitals and delicate, expansive serifs suggest the sharp cuts of engraved letterforms, which are beautifully contrasted by Laurel's soft spherical gradients.

Sharp FM 009 closes with "Loch Raven," arriving as both a surprise and a natural conclusion. It's a song that makes us nostalgic for the 2000's -- so much pop culture is doing that these days -- and in this context, it also sounds renewed. It's fun to imagine how this song might hit for our listeners, whether this is the first time you're hearing Animal Collective or whether you're hearing them again for the first time after almost two decades. May is the six-month mark of the year, and this seems like an apt moment for circuitous, curious contemplation (with a new song) or conversation (with a past self).

With its trebly sine wave and vocal interplay, this downtempo gem completes a loop. If all mixes are love letters, what font is this one being typed with? What does the handwriting look like? Ian's choice for "last song" perfectly encapsulates the buzzing, playful qualities of this Gemini season, and whether your response is to make a mix of your own, or to simply let the mix play again and restart the circle, we hope its ambient qualities give meditative space. Many hands and many voices went into producing this hour of music, and the hope is that the closing airborne minutes of "Loch Raven", with its chiming drone and ''ooh ooh' refrain in soft dialogue,  inspire other forms of creative murmuration.