With From the Sea, Gualala, California based artist and producer Michal Menert and his band the Pretty Fantastics have crafted a musical salve for those suffering from the relentless stream of contemporary reality. The record churns at the intersection of jazz, hip hop, and electronic music; following its own internal rhythm, it ebbs and flows between crystalline clarity and swirling opacity. Uplifting, yet laced with echoes of chaos and friction, From the Sea wraps itself around the listener like a Pacific coast shore break. Michal Menert and the Pretty Fantastics have succeeded in creating a both a profoundly beautiful piece of art and a thought-provoking work of philosophical poetry. “We too often move through life on autopilot. When we stop and look back, it’s all a blur” explains Menert. “This record is an exploration of how seemingly inconsequential moments ripple through time and haunt us. I want to help people realize that they’re not the only ones confused about how this is all supposed to go down. It’s universal.”