Album Review—Music for Ketamine

A Healing Mission in Music: Reviewing Music for Ketamine

In his latest album, Music for Ketamine, David Franklin has created a sonic journey designed as a tool for therapy and inner exploration. The healing mission behind this album is to support ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP). This 13-track collection of soundscapes and songs has earned acclaim for bringing music and healing practices into closer alignment. In a world characterized by noise and distraction, Franklin’s sonic offering invites listeners to slow down, sink in, and discover the transformative power of music.

As the old Sufi saying goes: “When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit laughs for what it has found.” This album leans into that paradox, accompanying listeners as they explore how experiences of loss, insight, and healing can transform human life. In these songs, music becomes medicine.

The Artist: A Life of Sound and Healing

David Franklin’s long career has been interdisciplinary, laying the foundation for this musical expedition. Born in New Jersey, David has traversed genres ranging from rock and folk-pop to avant-garde and new-age instrumental music during his five-decade journey. He is a multi-instrumentalist with a flair for “found sounds,” unconventional tunings, and experimental recording techniques. In fact, he has always endeavoured to reveal the emotional truth in music.

Franklin also brings 25 years of clinical experience as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, with training in KAP at the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. This background has given him a uniquely holistic perspective on how music can assist in healing. In him, we see an artist who not only creates music but also understands how it can hold, heal, transform, and guide human experience.

Composition and Production: An Arc of Sound

Music for Ketamine reflects Franklin’s lifelong curiosity and skill. The album was recorded at his home in Oakland between 2023 and 2025 and mastered by Warren Kahn. Its composition employs a surprising range of instruments and sounds, with Franklin’s 6′1″ Pramberger grand piano at its core. Other instruments in the creative process include handpan, a 1940s toy piano, bowed psaltery, harmonium, drums, shakers, bells, acoustic guitars, synthesizers, Native American flutes, and his own voice.

The artist’s field recordings of crickets, frogs, seasonal birdsong, fire, and even his cat Stripes’ purring infuse the album with a tactile, organic presence. Stylistically, the album moves through ambient, new-age, experimental, and neo-classical modes. This sonic voyage, which extends for more than an hour, maps the psychological, emotional, and spiritual terrain of a ketamine session. Franklin’s conceptual integrity bestows the album with exceptional power and unity.

Independent Track Reviews

When Silence Learns to Speak (6:12)

The opening piece brings a meditative calm to the listeners. Piano notes steeped in a contemplative mood create an expansive space, inviting listeners inward. Subtle textures and found sounds help create a resonant stillness. Thus, the opening is gentle as well as ceremonial opening, preparing the audience to get started with an involved therapeutic journey.

Mycelium Highway (5:30)

The mildly pulsating notes of this song surface the interconnectedness of life and existence. Tunes of bowed psaltery and handpan create a base that nurtures a mystic existence with music. The music subtly echoes the mycelium’s role in connecting and nourishing life. There is a comprehensive effort on the part of the artist to uncover the hidden links in our psyche.

Everything and Nothing (6:10)

Composed of minimal piano motifs and inspiring ambient layers, this track seeks to explore the space between presence and absence. Feeling weightless, the sound looks grounded still. The composer succeeds in disorienting the listener and leading them to a subtle world which is contemplative, philosophical, and gentle.

Figure Painting (4:56)

This track sounds more melodic and well-structured, highlighting the tactile sense of creation. The toy piano’s chimes sound fragile and childlike. The softly playing percussions add momentum. The entire experience looks like the music sketching emotional outlines to be colored by the listener through their inner experience.

Sylver’s Theme (2:25)

This piece is a brief interlude in the album, composed of clear and intimate melodies that remind the listener of their deeply personal memories. The simplicity of the musical notes is stunning and powerful, sounding like a prayer to heal.

Carry Wood, Chop Water (5:41)

This song stands out in the album with its rich instrumentation and complex layering of the sounds from handpan, toy piano, bowed psaltery, harmonium, drums, and bells. The title seems to be inspired by the Zen tradition and seeks to integrate the mystical with the mundane. The arrangement evokes meditation and spiritual experience.

The Longest Night (2:49)

This piece is quite introspective in which slow drum hits and drones seem to suspend time. In this piece, we discover the heights of an emotional journey with the album. The music invites the listeners to confront buried fears and shadows boldly, creating the space for a transformative experience.

FireCat (6:10)

ForeCat is a playful and warm track embellished by fire crackles and a cat’s purring. The intimate personal touch emanating from the notes set up an affectionate ground for the listener. The musical notes get mischievous here, reminding us that healing can happen amidst a humorous and comfortable setting.

Silver Spirit Dancers (2:20)

Though this is a short track, I found this piece featuring kinetic energy. Bells, flutes, and layered rhythmic elements get a ceremonial dance in front of our eyes, suggesting a celebration by spirits in order to assist the listener in their journey.

The Foggiest Idea (6:30)

The dense ambient textures and drifting melodies of this track create a sonic fog that envelops us. The resulting setting suggests to us how certainty and ego dissolve when a superior awareness dawns in us.

Finger Painting (3:26)

Once again, a tactile and playful song, Finger Painting is a beautiful interplay of handpan and subtle percussion notes. The music of this piece looks raw, expressive, and childlike, creating a space to explore feelings without judgment.

TheLongTale (6:15)

The rising and falling melodies of this track contain a strong narrative element in them. The sound layers created by guitars, flutes, and synths tell a story that closely resonates with the deepest aspirations of the listener.

Song for Living (6:09)

The closing piece sounds simple, honest, and reflective – the perfect song to conclude the healing journey. The deeply philosophical notes seem to bid a gentle farewell to the listener, facilitating an intimate conversation with oneself. In this track, we discover moments of peace and gratitude, creating a sublime mood that lasts for so long in us.

Takeaway

Listening to Music for Ketamine was an unprecedented musical treat for me—moving and contemplative. Across these 13 tracks, Franklin’s music guides us through difficult emotional terrains, assisting in an exploration and transformation of a profound kind. From both artistic and therapeutic perspectives, this album is a rare work that testifies to Franklin’s accomplishments as a musician and therapist.

If you have a flair for music for mindfulness, therapy, or spiritual exploration, this is a must-listen that you simply can’t miss. This album is a masterclass in demonstrating how sound can be a vehicle for transformation. In every note, Franklin’s lifetime of skill and compassion shines through, making these tracks worthy of a truly healing and transformative experience.