The Wishing Well By 2002

 

The Wishing Well

By

2002

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

For me personally 2002 are the very top of what we lovingly call the New Age music genre, even on a recent poll they narrowly came in behind Enya at number 2, and she doesn’t even class herself as a new age artist, for me it’s always a delight when a new album is on offer, here is a band who have stayed true to their cause over the years, and have never once failed to bring their audience and the world a quality release, and here on this brand new album gifted to the world in 2026 called The Wishing Well, we have another slice of the beautiful musical pie, one lovingly baked over the years by the Copus family, and laid before us on our table of tonal dreams and delights.

Overture: The Restless Heart starts our onward journey in a proud keyboard synth styled opus that is as grand as the highest mountain, and as deep as the darkest ocean. The swirling keyboards gift us a sublime scenic view of the voyage ahead for the band, with traditional stylings wrapped in a fluent blanket of sound, also featuring guest artist Keyreel Raskolenko on violin.

If ever you wanted an artist to create something meaningful and full of emotion, you would need to look no further than 2002, and here is that very piece right before you, and called Three Wishes. This song is beautiful, but it has a mysterious lilt to its proceedings, perhaps just a hint of something deeper in the weave of the explorative musical narration, one that is gloriously cinematic and proud of it.

On Twilight we are treated to something quite beautiful, in fact I would go as far to say transcendent; a light childlike narrative is explored in a gentle cohesive way, the harp and guitar combine to add a wonderful juxtaposition between the strings, keys and lush ethereal vocals.

The very opening tone of The Spiral of Heaven, brought a mood of a possible star trek into the offering, the ancient energies of the past and long before were mixed beautifully into the weave of the piece, the strings sublime and the orchestration as moving as you could ever wish for, another cinematic offering with utter ease is played out here, the gentle pristine keys usher forth something quite breath taking and scenic.

Dream Chasers is solidly back on home turf for the Copus family, that signature harp and orchestration with flowing guitars is there on this wonderful new age ride of a track, add in the flute and you have the original sound of 2002, and that chase through this lush galaxy of sound is upon us all.

I’m often moved by the textures of moonlight and the orb that sits proudly in our night skies, and on Moon Lore we explore that in more detail. Lunar deities in many cultures personify the moon, such as the Greek goddess Selene, the Roman Luna, or the Hindu god Chandra; here 2002 manifest something as redolent of the subject matter, with wispy keyboards, dream like vocalisations, and a veritable lullaby of peace as the overall dynamic.

A Safe Harbor takes us to a sanctuary of sound that is both calming and secure in its port of restful seas, the drift here for me was the heavenly vocals that floated on the crisp ocean waves of tomorrows destiny, reminding us all that the seas of life, as well as of water, are meant to be sailed too.

As we flow into the deeper parts of this musical lake called The Wishing Well by 2002 we arrive at the bankside of a piece called On the Wings of Angels, and in doing so manifesting one of the most powerful compositions that has been brought to the world in years. Flowing guitar, harp and orchestrations are added to by flutes and string sections, in a deeply moving oasis of sound, in an ethereal and angelic composition like no other could ever possibly do.

Our penultimate piece is entitled Bellehaven, ok so I just had to research this, and I found out it was the location where 2002 first began their musical voyage back in 1992, from that early inception magic was made and still is, but this light hearted reverie is a tip of the hat to their sparkling first footfalls as the band, and how glad are we that this happened.

We conclude the album with the piece called Savitri's Dream, with its own steady progression this song feels deeply special, and the symbiotic tonal energies create moods from decades ago, with elements of the past present and future all rolled into one. Here on this last track is what 2002 are all about, lush soundscapes, glorious ethereal vocalisations, and dramatic and magical chord changes, on what has to be the most sublime ways to end an album ever.

The Wishing Well by 2002 is an album that any musical aficionado will not want to miss, this is the band standing tall and on their own ground proudly, and in doing so producing one of the finest new age instrumental music albums of the decade thus far. The Wishing Well by 2002 is a stunning new release, a solid rock bottom guaranteed number one, and should be award worthy easily, here is a release that simply cannot be denied and is an absolute must for everyone.