Aqualung

Aqualung doing ‘I Put a Spell on You’ on Top Of The Pops was, like eating a small, good thing. You can be flattened by cynicism with Will and Gareth at number one, so to see a puppy-eyed ingenue like Matt Hales snap at their heels with a sweet, bright, subtle top-ten hit is both a shock and a blessed relief. That it’s only a hit thanks to a car ad is an uncomfortable reality I’m choosing to ignore.

Hales’ singing is soft and high, voice cracking on occasion, but the drum loops, piano and strings are sparse and taut, so slushy self-pity is avoided. Resilience is implied even when the going gets mopey. (‘Just For a Moment’, a neurotic catalogue of poor Matt’s bleak moments, is redeemed as it ends with him tripping over himself to sing the praises of the girl who helps him through.)

There’s lyrical intricacy too that’s heartening. “I’ll put a spell on you/You’ll fall asleep and I’ll put a spell on you/And when I wake you I’ll be the first thing you see/And you’ll realise that you love me,” goes the opener. On first listen an articulation of the endless optimism of a brand new love, the more I listen to it, and the louder and later at night I play it, the more “You’ll realise that you love me” sounds like an order, and the creepier the song becomes.

Aqualung have been compared to lots of people but I keep relating Hales to Neil Hannon circa Promenade. His naive, sunny masterpiece had that edge of unease that exploded into Casanova, his disillusioned, disgusted masterpiece. Watching ingenues get corrupted is great if evil entertainment and that’s all to look forward to. For now Aqualung is a guiltless pleasure.