At A Closer Listen, we make a clear distinction between winter music and music that is released in winter. Winter music is evocative of the season and latitudes in which snow and ice take up permanent residence. The catch is that some of these places are melting, a disturbing trend highlighted by many of our artists. While winter music is the score to real times and places, one day winter music may be all that remains. For now, we look forward to feeling the crispness of winter, gazing at the landscapes of white, and believing that all things can be made new. As we sink into these sounds, we discover a sense of peace.
Our cover image is taken from øjeRum’s Snow Is Absence Singing, which is covered below!
Brett Naucke ~ Cast a Double Shadow (Ceremony of Seasons)
Cast a Double Shadow is the first winter entry in Ceremony of Season’s wondrous Ritual of Senses series, pairing music with bottles of VISUALS Wine. The album recognizes the curiosities of time, including the fact that after the winter solstice, the days grow colder, while the daylight minutes grow longer. The music changes moods as well, highlighted by the chime-filled “A Glass Touch.”
Cicada ~ Seeking the Sources of Streams (flau)
How can an album be both cold and warm? Seeking the Sources of Streams accomplishes this feat by traveling backwards from spring to winter, then forward again, chronicling a series of physical journeys by Jesy Chiang. “On the Way to the Glacial Cirque,” the ensemble translates mountain snows and ice-capped lakes to crisp piano and cool strings, warming the heart along the way.
Drum & Lace ~ Frost EP (Self-Released)
The EP collects songs from different times and places, anchoring them in a unifying theme. Sofia degli Alessandri-Hultquist means the set to be a solace for those caught in seasonal depression, a reminder that winter may be isolating, but can also be lovely, a thought conveyed through wind chimes, wistful ambience, and a lullaby-like voice.
Eldbjørg Hemsing, Arctic Philharmonic ~ Arctic (Sony Classical)
The highlight of the album. may be Jacob Shea’s “The Arctic Suite,” but the entire set is sumptuous, the work of different composers connected by the violin of Eldbjørg Hemsing. Whether celebrating snowflakes, enduring the Arctic wind or contemplating sea melt, Arctic never takes its eyes off the beauty of the world.
Glåsbird ~ antarctica (Whitelabrecs)
Over the course of eight albums, Glåsbird has traveled from the North Pole to the South, visiting lands real and imaginary, providing a multi-year soundtrack to climate change and the allure of frozen landscapes. If the music is melancholic, it is also elegiac, a sign that the artist continues to find wonder and awe in what remains.
øjeRum ~ Snow Is Absence Singing (Fluid Audio)
The album exudes a sense of suspension, with one long, undulating track broken into half-hour halves. The album is the sound of snow falling gently over a long period; absent are thoughts of travel, cleanup or even movement. The original edition arrived with 35 art cards, which can be viewed here: evidence that øjeRum is equally at home in the aural and visual fields.
Philip Samartzis ~ Atmospheres And Disturbances (Room40)
How cold is the Alpine High-Altitude Research Station at Jungfraujoch? Cold enough that special instruments had to be used to catch the sound of the ice, wind and snow. But these recordings are purposely not pristine; the sounds of tourists and snowmobiles are caught as well. The message is clear; we think that the storms are the disturbances, but to nature, the disturbance is us.
Rob St. John ~ Örö (Blackford Hill)
The physical edition is a 7″ record. But just like vast worlds exist below frozen surfaces, so does this multi-media excursion contain an hour and 41 minutes of field recordings and music. In the “Midwinter” section, Rob St. John captures the sound of sea ice on a forgotten island; in “Freezing Points,” the vision is expanded. When he returns half a year later, the project begins anew.
Susan Schuppli ~ ICE RECORDS (BEK Centre for Electronic Arts)
The record is pressed on vinyl, whose very nature is to degrade. The same holds true for ice. The sounds captured here are the backdrop to a discussion on the changing climate. “Deep Listening” is the go-track, featuring the sounds of villagers hearing submerged glacier sounds. Also included is the score to the film Svalbard Arctic Archipelago, composed by Mohamed Safa.
Tomo-Nakaguchi ~ The Long Night in Winter Light (Audiobulb)
Gazing upward at the snow, one might imagine that the stars were falling, but gently, peacefully, without heat. The Long Night in Winter Light evokes memories of bundling up with mittens and scarves and venturing outside to feel soft flakes decorating one’s face. The night may be long, but we don’t want it to end.
Richard Allen
a closer listen 
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