Words & Music

Aqualung | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve Forecast
• ASIN: B001FBSMEY
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,266 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

"Music can be an amazingly potent thing," says Matt Hales, aka Aqualung. "When I sing into the microphone in the studio, I'm whispering my secrets in people's ears. When it connects, it can be so powerful. It's still a remarkable process to me."

Indeed, in a field crowded with empty shouting, Words and Music--the English singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer's fourth album (and third U.S. release) under his longstanding nom de disc Aqualung--has the feeling of a series of deep emotional truths whispered in confidence. An effortlessly intimate set of subtly crafted, organically melodic tunes with openhearted lyrics and spare, mostly acoustic arrangements, Words and Music features some of Hales' most compelling work to date. Such subtly soulful tunes as "7 Keys," "Arrivals," "Good Goodnight" and "When I Finally Get My Own Place" balance adult emotional insight and childlike wonder, and are squarely in the tradition of such introspective pop auteurs as Brian Wilson and Paul Simon. Not coincidentally, Simon's '70s classic "Slip Sliding Away" receives a poignant interpretation from Hales on the album.

Words and Music--which Hales co-produced with his brother and musical right-hand man Ben, who also provides guitar, bass and harmony vocals, and co-wrote several songs--is the product of an extended period of soul-searching that caused the artist to seriously reexamine his career priorities, after a life that's been spent making music.

Hales began writing songs at the age of four and won a music scholarship at 16, and soon saw his classical symphony Life Cycle performed by a 60-piece orchestra. He later achieved a modicum of U.K. notoriety with a pair of British rock combos, Ruth and The 45's, but eventually grew weary of band life. Hales began recording as Aqualung in 2002, and achieved some unexpected early success when his demo of the song "Strange and Beautiful" appeared in a Volkswagen TV commercial and immediately struck a chord with listeners. That fluke occurrence turned Aqualung from a modest lo-fi bedroom recording project into a successful major-label act.

Hales' first two U.K. albums, Aqualung and Still Life were combined to create Aqualung's first U.S. release Strange and Beautiful, which became a substantial stateside hit. Meanwhile, Hales demonstrated the flexibility of his songcraft by presenting his music in a variety of live formats, from solo piano performances to gigs with a four-piece band to concerts with a 17-person ensemble. The conflicting emotions generated by Hales' unexpected mainstream success were reflected in 2007's Memory Man, a densely packed, largely electronic meditation on the disconnection and dislocation that Hales was feeling at the time. Those emotions left the lifelong musician and songwriter unsure of whether he wanted to continue as a recording artist.

"I'd been on the road for about three years, and I was as unwell and as unhappy as I've ever been," he recalls. "I thought, 'This is absolutely ridiculous, how can this be the result of success?' I felt like I was completely done, and like I had to stop. So I came home and hung out with my family and got busy producing and writing for other people, and had a think about what I might do next. But then I started to write some songs, and I eventually came back to realizing how much I would miss it if I gave it up. I realized that I just had to find a way to carry on, but on my own terms."

Eventually, Hales and his brother Ben began cutting unfussed, stripped-down recordings in Matt's home studio, with little thought of releasing them to the public. "It was really me and my brother sitting at home in London, just seeing what would happen if we tried out this sound or this tone. Initially, we were just playing around with new versions of old songs, but then I started writing new songs, and it grew and grew, and at some point it started feeling like a record.

"I wasn't really expecting anyone to want to release it, to be honest," Hales adds. "It was really more of an experiment for me, because after having made a deliberately synthetic record with Memory Man, I was reacting against that and wanting to make something that was entirely organic and furry."

The almost-accidental nature of Words and Music's birth cycle is consistent with the unpremeditated manner in which Aqualung first came into being, and Hales is happy to be returning to his D.I.Y. roots. "Ever since I began making music," he says, "my best work has come from a sense of feeling at home and connected and grounded and safe and happy. And this record, which was made without any external pressures or timetables or plan, came from that place, and connected me back to that. Listening to it, I feel relieved and rescued.

"I nearly called this album Heart Songs, because that's sort of what they are," Hales notes. "Memory Man was completely a head record, but Words and Music is all heart. It barely has a head; it's basically just a heart and a grin. There's something about the spirit of these recordings that feels like the start of something new. I don't know exactly where it will take me, but it will be very interesting to find out."

Product Description

Words and Music is the the 2008 album by Hale, an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. This is Hales' fourth album (and third U.S. release) under his longstanding nom de disc Aqualung, and it has the feeling of a series of deep emotional truths whispered in confidence. Hales co-produced with his brother and musical right-hand man Ben, who also provides guitar, bass and harmony vocals, and co-wrote several songs, and it is the product of an extended period of soul-searching that caused the artist to seriously reexamine his career priorities, after a life that's been spent making music. "Music can be an amazingly potent thing," says Matt Hales, aka Aqualung. "When I sing into the microphone in the studio, I'm whispering my secrets in people's ears. When it connects, it can be so powerful. It's still a remarkable process to me."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe you won't "fall on your knees" for this one, but it might hold the "7 keys to your soul!", October 12, 2008

By 

Diego Rodrigues (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Words & Music (Audio CD)

Matt is back and so is the incomparable exquisite writing, perhaps one of the best songwriting of his generation. While I agree with some that "Words and Music" seems more like a detour than a new venue for Aqualung's future, it is a beautiful detour. "Everything Changed" indeed since Memory Man. One of the best qualities of Aqualung is that he rejects the impulse to recreate the magic of the last great song and travels towards melodic riddles.

"When I Finally Get My Own Place" is high up there with other intuitive songs about the anticlimactic experience of adulthood. "Mr Universe" made me think of the Beatles for obvious reasons (the beat, the harmonies, Matt's falsettos) but also because it had the goofy, jovial quality that we can seem on Aqualung's persona but don't get to hear through his songs. It made me think of the White Album. Strange, I know !

"Good Goodnight" is a great example of how most of these songs could've been little love notes. The good old "Love is the answer" quality of Aqualung's songs are well represented by this track. If you are also a musician, you got to appreciate how Aqualung has allowed himself to include longer and longer solos and chops of his great talent.

True; no "Pressure Suit" or "Something to Believe" this time. No great track to keep on singing way past your ipod batteries died. However, whether you are a die hard fan like I am, or you just discovered Aqualung...there is something fundamentally..."vanguardish" (yeah, I just said vanguardish) about it. Buy the Album. Listen once and once again. Listen it over tea. Listen it in the way home.

This album is a detour after all. That does not mean it can't lead those that love great music...home.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing...Perfect....other synonyms for earth shatteringly beautiful, October 20, 2008

By 

Max Power - See all my reviews

This review is from: Words & Music (Audio CD)

I can't tell you enough how good this album is. Probably his most focused work to date, and one of the most genuine albums I have ever heard. It's stripped down, yet has an incredible incorporation of eclectic instrumentation. "7 Keys", "On My Knees", and "Nothing Else Matters" are probably the finest songs he's ever released, the Paul Simon "Slip Sliding Away" cover is breathtaking and aches with realism, and the beginning of "Arrivals" gives me chills (actually the whole song does). This song will reaffirm your hope in songwriting, music, and humanity in general. Please Listen.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars... Matt Hales retreads from "Memory Man", October 11, 2008

By 

Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Words & Music (Audio CD)

In March, 2007, Matt Hales (the one-man band behind Aqualung) released an epic album "Memory Man", which was one of my "best of 2007" albums, and which I thought might position Aqualung to greater commercial/mainstream success. But alas, it didn't happen, despite several outstanding tracks. Now comes the next Aqualung album, seemingly out of the blue (I picked it up today while shopping at my record store, I had no idea that a new album was on the way).

"Words and Music" (10 tracks, 43 min.) is first of all not to be confused with the Hugh Grant movie soundtrack of last year.... That cleared up, I was quite surprised by the overall tone of the album. No "Cinderella" or "Pressure Suit" to be found on here. Instead, the album opener "7 Keys" is a very low-key affair, and sets the tone for the rest of the album. The Paul Simon cover of "Slip-sliding Away" is pleasant but nothing ear-catching. The intimate songs follow, and "On My Knees" is just about the only up-tempo song on here. I don't understand where Matt Hales is going with this album. "Memory Man" set the table for a more forceful sound, and Matt Hales has retreated from it on this album. This is not a 'bad' album, but I was disappointed by it, period.

I saw Matt Hales/Aqualung on the "Memory Man" tour last year, and then it seemed clear to me that even bigger things were to follow. But "Words and Music" has not fulfilled that promise. Strange album. Not bad, but not that great either. Color me disappointed.