Water Cycle

The Company of Friends

(Some Tulip)

‘THE Company of Friends’ is an atmospheric and accomplished affair that will have you wanting to return time and again to fraternise with Aaron Page and his enthralling Water Cycle solo project.

The influence of a diverse range of artists from Bon Iver to Burt Bacharach, Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley can be heard over nine elegant tracks. And while Page’s emotive brand of ‘electric folk’ bears most resemblance to Sufjan Stevens for all its seductive, graceful and ambitious artistry it’s also rich in enough soaring sentiment and wry whimsy to have Neil Hannon and his chamber indie-pop pals sit up and pay better attention in class.

Water Cycle’s debut album opens with the haunting and reflective tones of ‘So Bright’. Page’s swooning vocals float over a sombre bed of chiming guitars before erupting into a tempestuous wave of elegiac brass, synths and vocal harmonies to celebrate the dawn of a new day, dazzling us with new possibilities, and the prospect of another eight tracks to follow.

‘Good Friends’ is a triumph. Its dizzyingly upbeat chorus, a celebratory life-affirming coda, is so spirited it could turn the world on its axis and I wouldn’t bet against it turning up to soundtrack a beer commercial either. Page’s fervent vocals on ‘Hazel’ find him sounding not unlike Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan over a charming lo-fi din of cheap drum machines and synths. ‘Sparks’ proves one of the album’s finest moments. Its dreamy and gooey point of view shimmers brightly over a flurry of syncopated twitches that tug at heartstrings and implores feet to dance.  

Page never ceases to impress throughout this remarkable debut for all its baroque arrangements, engaging ideas and almost organic grandeur. One thing is for certain. You should always keep in touch with your friends.