following last years meditative mirage ep and the stunning * beat 13* on lovers rock no. 6, earthen sea returns to lr with his debut lp ink. his heaviest and most ambitious work to date, ink is a work of hypnotic, monastic beauty. over the last ten years, earthen sea, aka jacob long, has been developing a sound world all his own, built on a foundation of vaporous grey-black drones and pulsing kick drums. an impressionistic dream-scape of american life, ink journeys between the eerily vacant “entrance” to the feverish “stateless” and the shimmering perfection of “all men know the truth.” swaths of violent, glacial noise collide with lost voices transmitted through the ether, framed between moments of transcendent clarity. following an extended three song suite, closing track * blues in black ink* rides a gently falling piano melody into a finale that is as infused with political rage as it is with private melancholy. with ink, earthen sea arrives fully formed, an artist in utter command of his craft.