Many songwriters have felt the hands of advertising executives mould their success. But few can owe them as much as Matt Hales. Before a certain VW Beetle commercial, he was a disenchanted musician with a classical music background and unattainable pop dreams. Now he is Aqualung, and the haunting Strange and Beautiful has seeped into the national consciousness. Hale yearns to be Brian Wilson and this album is his love-letter to the maestro of melody. Most of the songs are quiet, Hale's repetitive musings gently paced against muffled drums, but for Good Time Gonna Come, he swaps lo-fi delicacy for fuzzy guitars, his angelic voice growing rough with desperation. Think Radiohead before they got difficult, or Coldplay with less complacency, and you've got a notion of Aqualung's loveliness.
