This may well be his most luminous work yet. The fourth full-length album from Felbm, the solo project of Dutch multi-instrumentalist Eelco Topper, and his Japanese debut. Presenting a timeless suite built around the themes of winter, spring, summer and fall, the record grows naturally out of his two most recent solo works, Elements of Nature and cycli infini, touching on nature and cyclical patterns while expanding those themes through the lens of Japan's twenty-four solar terms.

Felbm first encountered the twenty-four solar terms—a calendar used in ancient China and Japan—while reading a book about the Japanese tea ceremony. Rather than dividing time into four seasons, the system uses twenty-four markers, each further split into six periods, recording exactly what is happening in the natural world at any precise moment, and Felbm was captivated by the poetry of these turning points. Beginning in November 2022, he resolved to follow the twenty-four solar terms for a full year. From cloud formations to weather patterns, from animal behavior to budding plants, he observed nature and kept a diary, while gathering musical ideas inspired by the changes and reflections he experienced in each period. These musings slowly took shape over the course of the year and grew into winterspring/summerfall.

Depicting the seamless passage of the seasons, the sounds we hear here shift subtly along with them. Winter's long tones summon a sense of vastness, time stretching out in endless slumber. Weighty low end casts shadows, while limpid percussion and birds wheeling across a robin's-egg sky give rise to moments of pure clarity.

Winter sheds its layers amid flickering light, and the arrival of spring spreads across the whole landscape. The flutter of life returns, instruments trace weightless melodies, awakening the senses and stirring with fresh vitality. These expressions deepen further with summer's arrival. A crisp, buoyant warmth captures the season's lush plant growth, and refreshing earthen textures and undulating timbres shimmer within the mirage of the sun's heat. The transition into fall evokes quiet communion, the feeling of being held in the deep, rich earthiness and organic wellspring of sound the season has rooted. Summer's smooth tones grow grainier as fall sets in, and passing showers usher in the cold season to come.

What we hear and feel across these twenty-four seasonal markers is nothing less than awe at the grandeur of the earth. Felbm is not only an observer of nature but is attuned to the miraculous essence of every element—birdsong, a blade of grass, a drop of dew, a leaden cloud—and the role each plays in the ceaseless change we experience in daily life. winterspring/summerfall is a gift to be cherished, and as a guide, steward and co-conspirator in the world around us, Felbm leaves one final wish for listeners: "Finally, keep in mind Henriëtte Roland Holst's words, 'the stillness of nature knows many sounds,' and listen to the silence of nature."