Synthux Academy Spotykach & Felt Piano | Unspoken | Winterdagen

A couple of days ago I released Unspoken, the first single of my upcoming album 'Are we two strangers now?', which will be my first ever solo vinyl release! For this live version of that track, I made use of the incredibly inspiring Spotykach looping playground by Synthux Academy. Synthux Academy are a really cool non-profit who make gorgeous and boundary pushing open source instruments. They are based in Rotterdam, where I live as well. A while ago I spent an afternoon in their studio, playing with their Spotykach, Audrey II (They've just released version III, which is even more incredible!), Touch 2, and some other instruments. I found Spotykach so incredibly inspiring - very immediate and tactile, and deep at the same time, which is rare - I just had to take one home. Ever since, it's become my go-to for textures. It's so much fun looping, slicing and granularizing audio from different sources, and turning it into ever evolving beds of sound! Listen to the album version of Unspoken here: Bandcamp: https://winterdagen.bandcamp.com/trac... Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/nl/album/unsp... Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2UrBNsP About the upcoming album: Are we two strangers now? is the new album by Dutch composer Mink Steekelenburg, better known as Winterdagen. The album was composed to accompany a photographic series and book by Rik Roos, exploring the grief that follows the sudden end of a close friendship. Featuring self-portraits by Roos alongside portraits of actress Claire Bender, the series captures the emotional aftermath of losing someone who was once an essential part of your life. Taking these photographs as his starting point, Steekelenburg translates their emotional weight into a deeply personal collection of compositions, moving between fragile, almost whispered piano pieces and warm, expansive analogue synthesizer soundscapes. At the heart of the album is the old upright piano in Steekelenburg's living room, recorded with a thick layer of felt placed between its hammers and strings. The resulting sound is soft, muted and remarkably intimate. These delicate moments alternate with rich, analogue synthesizer compositions that gradually unfold, sometimes breaking open into something much larger and more overwhelming. Together, they create a musical world that feels both comforting and melancholic, reflecting on the confusion, sadness and sense of loss that follow when a close connection is unexpectedly severed. Winterdagen began as a predominantly piano-based project, but over the years Steekelenburg's fascination with synthesizers and sound design has brought an increasingly electronic dimension to his music. Alongside his own releases, he has worked extensively as a composer for film, dance, theatre and museum installations, including projects for Centre Pompidou and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. His work in film music also earned him a Buma Music in Motion New Talent Award. With Are we two strangers now?, these different musical worlds come together in a particularly personal way. Rather than simply accompanying the photographs, the music offers another perspective on their story, giving shape to the grief, unanswered questions and lingering memories that remain when a close friendship comes to an abrupt end. Are we two strangers now? will be released on vinyl and digitally on 11 December 2026 via Wic Recordings. Winterdagen Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2UrBNsP   / winterdagen     / winterdagenmusic     / winterdagen     / winterdagen_mink