winterspring/summerfall by Felbm

Perhaps his most luminous work to date, multi-instrumentalist Eelco Topper, also known as Felbm, presents a resounding and timeless suite in winterspring/summerfall. The work is a natural progression of his two latest solo feats, Elements of Nature and cycli infini, as it taps into nature and cyclical patterns while expanding upon these themes through the lens of Nijūshi-sekki, the Japanese 24-point seasonal system.

Whilst reading a book about the Japanese tea ceremony, Felbm first came in touch with Nijūshi-sekki, a calendar used in Ancient China and Japan that, rather than dividing time into four seasons, uses 24 points, with six periods per season, to mark what is happening in nature at precise moments. The poetics of these markers intrigued Felbm. Beginning in November 2022, he decided to follow the Nijūshi-sekki for a year, tracking and recording his observations of nature in a journal—from cloud formations to weather patterns, animal life to plants sprouting—while collecting musical ideas inspired by the changes and reflections experienced per period. These musings slowly took shape over the course of the year and became winterspring/summerfall.

Musically, what we hear moves subtly with the seasons. Winter’s elongated notes draw out a sense of expansiveness, time stretching in an endless slumber. Lumbering bass casts its heavy shadow, while moments of purity emerge, with crystalline percussion and birds swooping across a robin-egg sky.

Winter sheds its layers with the flickering rays of light as spring’s arrival spreads across the landscape. We hear the fluttering of life returning, instruments painting airy melodies that awaken the senses and move with refreshed vitality. These expressions are amplified by the beckoning of summer. Zesty, buoyant warmth captures the vegetative abundance this period yields, while refreshing downpours and swells of notes glisten in the sun’s mirage of heat. The transition to autumn harkens a hushed companionship, a sense of being held by the deep, rich wells of the season’s rooted, earthy textures and organic sounds. The smooth sounds of summer develop a crunchiness as fall arrives, rain showers inviting in the descent of colder months to come.

What we hear and feel across the 24 seasonal points is nothing short of reverence for Earth’s splendor. Felbm is not just an observer of nature, but is attuned to the miraculous essentiality of every element—the role every birdsong, blade of grass, dewy drop, or pewter cloud plays in the continuous transformations we experience in daily life. winterspring/summerfall is a gift to be cherished, and as guides, stewards, and co-conspirators of the world brimming around us, Felbm leaves us with one last request when listening to the album: “My final invitation is to absorb Henriëtte Roland Holst words 'nature’s silence knows many sounds' and listen to nature's silence.”

(words by Allie Hatch)

Dutch instrumentalist and composer enthused by nature and cyclical movements

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