The name to remember is Matt Hales, not Aqualung. Matt hales, “The Man” behind the Aqualung curtain, has nothing to do with the Jethro Tull album, Aqualung, but has everything to do with beautiful music that Coldplay, U2, and Radiohead wish they would have written for their next albums. But comparing Matt Hales to the Britpopithon champions does a disservice to the unfeigned talent documented on Memory Man, Matt Hales latest and greatest musical effort.
For the unintroduced, Aqualung came onto the British charts in 2002 with the lusciously-wet ballad, “Strange and Beautiful,” which was later usurped by Volkswagon to sell cars (yeah, a slight bummer, but easily forgiven). The Norwegian Invasion aside, Matt Hales was not in good timing to catch the ear of Americans already saturated with Blood Rushing to Their Heads, Beautiful Days, and Hailing Thieves. But then Matt released the song “Brighter Than Sunshine” in 2005 and the U.S. could no longer ignore Aqualung. Matt’s first two British releases were combined, pruned, star-spangled-wrapped, and sold as the album “Strange & Beautiful” in the U.S. The result was an elegant archive of a piano wunderkind coming into his own. Memory Man, released last month, is this wunderkind maturing into a bona fide, indelible musician worthy of accolades -- of which I’m about to deeply exhale. While there are no songs that deserve the double-arrowed digital skip button, I will focus on just a few of the tracks in observance of “The Whole Brevity Thing,” your Dudeness.
The opening track, “Cinderella,” wastes no time getting to the point of Memory Man: this album will be edgier and more ambitious than the Aqualung of the past. Aside from being one of the best opening tracks I’ve ever heard, joining the ranks of U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name” and Fugazi’s “Waiting Room,” Cinderella showcases a complexity that I equate to a falling dollar bill: unpredictable, yet gracefully directed. Trying to catch this dollar bill left me pleasantly frustrated (which is possible!), so I decided to surrender to Matt’s tenacious grip on the musical wheel. There are chord changes and song structure psych-outs that are impossible to predict upon the first few listens. These qualities are truly rare on pop albums and set the stage for what Memory Man has to offer. But Cinderella may be Matt’s own surrender to influences like U2, Bjork, Radiohead, Travis, and Coldplay -- influences that persist throughout the album’s entirety. Every suspended twist of Cinderella is an ephemeral nod to some of my generation’s greatest. Yet, with help from masterful production prowess (more on that later), Matt finds his own ground to stand on, an unclaimed plot of the musical landscape comfortably disparate from more hackneyed territory.
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Cinderella is followed by “Pressure Suit,” a glossy, yet jagged (think icebergs) pop song, and likely the first single from the album. In fact, Pressure Suit may be a “Perfect Pop Song”. Some may cringe at such a distinction, but, again, I have to surrender: Pressure Suit is an undeniable feat of pop brilliance on par with the best. The song is catchy (OK, extremely catchy), symmetric, yet complicated enough to avoid austerity. Yes, a perfect pop song.
“Something To Believe In,” the third track on Memory Man, seamlessly continues Matt’s audacious sound experiment. This song begins with a stripped-down electronic tap that builds like a slow-motion flower bloom, showing you the sonic core only during the final verse. Like Cinderella, this song showcases a heavier, aggressive sound that is a new direction for Matt. But Something To Believe In proves that this new formula works. The edge of the drums, swirling guitars, and distorted vocals in the final moments provide a fitting gusto to secure Matt’s beautifully frail voice. It is precisely this sort of symmetric elegance that takes Memory Man a step (or two) ahead of Aqualung’s previous albums.
Last but certainly not least, “Outside” is -- simply put -- a tune that sounds like U2 should have thought of for their next single. But apparently Matt Hales thought of it first (Doh!). The staccato guitars that ring through most of the track are just screaming for The Edge to rip in his 2(thousand) cents, while the chorus taunts Bono to float his raspy yodeling. But alas, Matt is restrained enough (or maybe cocky enough) to comfortably claim this song as his own. Like “Pressure Suit,” “Outside” is another perfect pop song, leaving you humming the chorus for days and feeling those goose bumps as the song moves out of its bridge and into its weightless chorus. So take that, Bono.
Obviously I love Memory Man. In fact, I doubt I could write a more glowing review. But how is it deserving of such accolades when my review is littered with references to other musicians? What about originality? Enter Ben Hales, Matt’s brother and the mastermind puppeteer that makes Memory Man a success. The production on Memory Man is incredible. What were undoubtably single-track piano tunes were differentially expanded to make one of the most textured, three dimensional sounds I’ve heard on a pop album. Not everyone appreciates this style of mega-production, and being a Ryan Adams fan/stalker, I have utmost respect for a raw recording. But, unlike Ryan Adams, Matt’s song writing may best resemble a bird in a vacuum: gracefully talented but without a medium with which to fly. Ben’s production provides the sweeping air currents with which Matt’s melodies can soar in originality. The result is one of the best recordings I’ve heard in years that is the Memory Man. And that is both Something To Believe In and something to remember.
Aqualung will be playing May 14th at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland.
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