April 22, 2025
There weren’t always four seasons, or even five (as depicted in The Towadako Series). In Anglo-Saxon times, there were considered just two seasons: Summer (when the days were long and pleasant) and Winter (when the days were short and cold). In fact, ‘Winter’ was such a profound marker of time, that the Anglo-Saxons measured age by the number of winters lived. It’s no surprise that in a time before domestic heating, this harsh season was considered perilous. Here, perhaps, lies the intrigue in this icy time; a season of extremes, but also a season of beauty. By the shoreline of Lake Towada in Northern Japan, this bleak and beautiful contrast is in the mind of Nick Wood as he composes the final chapter of The Towadako Series, ‘Towadako Winter’. From the Shinkansen (bullet train) connecting Tokyo and Aomori Prefecture, Wood shares his experience of Winter and how it inspired him to encapsulate this season, “Winter is the most extreme and harsh season at the lake, but also one of the most beautiful. The inaccessibility to my small boathouse, having to hike in through thick snow, add to the feeling of remoteness and solitude, making it even more special. Looking from my warm cozy house across the extremely cold lake is both inspiring and also gives me a strong sense of appreciation for my surroundings.”
Nestled on the shoreline of this caldera lake on the border of Aomori and Akita prefectures, Wood’s studio overlooks the vast body of water that is Lake Towada. Too large and deep to completely freeze over in winter, but surrounded by a blanketing of thick snow, Wood is not only capturing winter through music and sound, he is completely immersed in it. With temperatures at Lake Towada plummeting to minus-10 at this time of year, there is one thing not in sort supply - ice. Working with a local ice manufacturer, Hachinohe Seihyo Company, Wood developed an instrument of his own creation called ‘The Ice Marimba’. Manufactured locally from solid ice, and painstakingly transported to the lake by snowmobile, ‘The Ice Marimba’ became a key feature of ‘Towadako Winter’, struck by a variety of soft and hard mallets and then sampled across the piece. ‘The Ice Marimba’ represents Wood’s desire to extract sound from the world around him, and restlessly strive for new ways of using it in compositions.
The isolation and starkness of the environment at Lake Towada is juxtaposed by a strong sense of companionship and warmth in this piece, encouraging the listener to look for comfort in this season. Wood acknowledges this duality as a privilege, sharing his experiences of nature at the lake, “I spend quite a lot of time outside in the deep forest with my 2 dogs and I have to thank them for the joy they bring. Watching them run and play and hike through thick snow is amazing. I often think to myself without them, I would probably never venture out into the deep forest alone. I’m transformed into this winter wonderland, the acoustics of the snow in the forest are extremely different from the other four seasons, with far more bird sounds and activity than you would ever expect. I blanket of snow really allows the bird sounds to be clearly heard and unlike summer, they are not fighting the sounds of insects like cicadas.”
As with previous chapters of ‘The Towadako Series’, live vocalists and instrumentalists have added a warmth and humanity to ‘Towadako Winter’, collaborating with Wood to bring depth to the composition. This combination of natural, elemental sounds, accompanied by live musicians gives a fluidity to the composition, inspired by the human experience in nature. Previous collaborators Sean Halley (Guitar), Alexander Motovilov (Piano) and Norico (Vocals) are joined by ethereal elements from Martha Collard on Gongs, Glass Harp and Finger Bells, accompanied by Ariel Sol on harp. Guest vocals on ‘Towadako Winter’ are performed by Yula Yayoi, a long-time collaborator of Wood’s, whose signature vocal style brings an emotional intensity to the piece. This emotional intensity gives an inflection of melancholy, perhaps a reflection on the end of the ‘Towadako Series’ as a whole. Wood expands on this, “I feel this has been a great experience and I’m a little sad it’s come to an end. I have enjoyed the creative challenge and freedom to compose and produce 5 albums in 1 year, and it’s given me the desire to continue to release more music in 2025. I have really enjoyed the multidimensional and immersive experience and being part of recording nature sounds, plant wave, collaborating with nature and it has been an incredible privilege to feature such wonderful musician and vocalists.”
With the release of ‘Towadako Winter’, audiences are now able to look back over the entirety of ‘The Towadako Series’, experiencing each season individually or as a whole. With over 130-minutes of music across five-seasons, this opens up new horizons for the collection. From physical formats and immersive audio experiences to collaborations with brands in hospitality and wellness, this is then just the beginning of ‘The Towadako Series’ as it takes on a life of its own. This exercise in musical storytelling through nature is, perhaps, only the first chapter, now it is up to audiences to find their own meaning within its parts.
As winter turns to spring, and spring turns to summer, this never-ending cycle will begin all over again, as fresh ears develop their own relationship with the compositions. For Wood and the team at Syn, this will inform new horizons inspired by, and extracted from, ‘The Towadako Series’. Watch this space, there is more to come.
