The best singer/songwriters have the ability to floor you with musical poetry about the real/imagined world and introspection. They can make you smile with their self-effacing humour and observation. They can make you weep with their tales of love, loss, and self-abuse. They can make you angry about the abuse of power and wealth. They make you think and feel. And the very best are highly original and distinctive - they set the standard for the rest. It’s against this background that I judge the quality of any singer/songwriter. Aqualung a.k.a. Matt Hales is a singer/songwriter who has been hailed as, ‘an astonishing talent…’ and much more besides. My challenge then to Hales with this new album, STILL LIFE, is ‘move me Matt.’

It’s a tough challenge, and tougher than most people think. Opening track, Brighter Than Sunshine, is wandering, wispy pop (very Ben & Jason) with a decent melody. Hales’ voice is also pleasant and easy to live with; it’s the sort of voice you’ve heard before singing a song you’re sure you’ve heard before. Lyrically, it’s not great: “I never understood before, I never knew what love was for, my heart was broke, my head was sore, what a feeling. Tied up in ancient history, didn’t believe in destiny, I look up you’re standing next to me, what a feeling.” Not really the stuff of musical poets, but a pleasant enough song.

Track two, Left Behind, opens with rocky guitar riffs and intertwined piano notes. This time the melody is much stronger, and the vocal more committed and expressive. The lyrics confound me though, one moment talking about the world getting smashed to pieces (interesting) and then “Why you leaving me now‘ (uninteresting). But again it’s a pleasant enough song. Track three, You Turn Me Around, reveals a vocal that’s struggling and a piano opening that sounds very familiar. But it’s a pleasant enough song. I could go on but at the risk of repeating myself and boring the pants off you.

Just occasionally one’s attention is grabbed and particularly when Hales is left alone with his piano, but overall there’s a distinct lack of adventure, passion and drama. Compare it with other ‘pop’ albums and it rates with the best of them. But place it in a corral with other bustling singer/songwriter stallions, including recently deceased Elliott Smith or alive and kicking Damien Rice or Tom McRae, and it would be hustled out of the gate. It would be the wrong pedigree. This is good and bad news for Hales. Good because the UK critics will lap it up and radio may be tempted to provide airplay. But in the international quality competition stakes it’s not the best news. STILL LIFE is a very pleasant album with too few ’special moments’, and one that neither challenged or moved me.

3.5/5