In today’s episode we’re speaking with Simon Holmes, a musician from Edinburgh, Scotland, who — for this occasion — teamed up with the Portobello Drone Choir.

Simon worked on Segment 24, the penultimate stretch of the river Lech before it quietly dissolves into the Danube. When he read that the project notes described this section as “the Lech’s quiet goodbye”, he knew exactly where he wanted to go.

In today’s episode we’re meeting Rachel Larsen-Jones, a sound artist and wildlife sound recordist from Wales, who worked on Segment 4 of the river Lech.

Segment 4 is one of the most ecologically significant stretches of the river — a place where, between 2016 and 2022, a major rewilding programme called LIFE Lech restored the river’s natural dynamics, shortening groynes, removing constructions, and giving the water back some of its freedom to meander. It is the kind of place that makes you want to hike there.