Listening to the Future: Thijs Veldhuis’ Concept Album Confronts Climate Crisis

What if your great-grandchild could come back in time to warn you about the consequences of climate inaction? That’s the premise behind the ten-track concept album by Bard College Berlin visiting student Thijs Veldhuis. The album, based around Thijs’s fictional great-grandson, follows Cyros as he travels from the year 2125 to undo the damage caused by ecological collapse.

Thijs, who is currently spending a semester at BCB from University College Utrecht, was able to showcase his album at a listening party organized by FOCUS, a student-led initiative that hosts events around social, political, and cultural issues.

The music grew out of a long-held frustration with how slowly the climate crisis is taken up in public discourse. After watching a film about climate change, Thijs found it “absolutely crazy how people seemed to care so little about it.” That sense of dissonance pushed him to create something that could cut through apathy. Although the theme of climate change runs through the album, Thijs says the larger goal is to “evoke curiosity.”

His approach to composing the album was intuitive and unconventional. “I try to make something that does not imitate another artist,” he explained. The music blends genres and draws from unexpected sources—including visual art and science. “I study chemistry and cell biology at my home university and I feel like I approach music from a different perspective because of this.” Without formal training, he relies on instinct: “I can’t read sheet music, but I listen to how a certain chord makes me feel when I write a song. And that is how music should be made.”

The result is a dense, layered body of work that asks to be listened to with care. “It is not an album you can listen to in the background, but it is something that you need to sit down for and experience. Every instrumental layer means something, every word drips with meaning—you can listen to one of my songs over and over again and find new details every time,” he explained.

Creating the album also marked a turning point for Thijs as a musician. “It’s made me feel more connected to myself—and I hope it connects with others too,” he said. 

Listen to Cyros’ Journey here.

By: Mishel Jovanovska '25

Post Date: 05-23-2025