It seems to me there’s something primal about our relationship with water – we’re instinctively drawn to it, whether rivers, lakes, or the ocean; we come from it, in evolutionary terms and through birth; and we are mostly made of it (roughly 60%, apparently).

Perhaps that’s why Current, the new album from New York-based Dutch vocalist and composer Vivienne Aerts is so instantly appealing in such a profound way.

The album, which is released tomorrow (Friday 26 June) was literally recorded on water – aboard a 1951 mahogany sailboat De Vouw, as it travelled the Dutch waterways.

Over two weeks, Vivienne – who is also an accomplished psychologist and academic – transformed the boat into a floating studio, recording tracks which blend jazz and electronica with the sounds of water, the surrounding environment, and even a hint of creaking timbers.

The project explores how humans and water coexist – particularly relevant to someone from the Netherlands, much of which lies below sea-level and whose relationship with water is even more intense than for most of us.

Vivienne invited fellow Dutch musicians: Hermine Deurloo (harmonica), Susanne Alt (saxophone), and Adinda
Meertins (double bass) to join her on different lakes and canals, each session shaped by the elements.

Ted Steinebach documented the journey for a short film that will accompany the album’s release.

The album will launch with floating concerts in the Netherlands and the US, alongside workshops and talks on creativity and sustainability.

You can find out more on Vivienne’s website here. It really is a gorgeous collection, and I’m grateful for being granted an early listen.

It reminds me of other water-themed works I’ve blogged about – on the jazz front, there’s Emily Saunders’s ocean-inspired Rugged Waves, and in film there’s my recent animated short, set in a coastal town A Fish Out of Water.

If you’re involved in arts and entertainment, please check out Weltch Media to see how we could help.