Aqualung: Strange and Beautiful
The next Coldplay, or so we’re told, will be Aqualung. With Strange and Beautiful as the album by which to compare the one with the other, it does seem that audibly the two are similar. I’m still one that has to read all the words to really ‘get’ an album, to really read into the artist’s meaning, and so the following review will be my ‘Maybe the Next Coldplay’ review of Aqualung’s album.
There’s a haunting sound to “Strange and Beautiful� and one can’t miss the subtitle “I’ll put a spell on you.� Much like the Police’s “Every Move You Make,� the watcher observes his love from afar and longs to love (and be loved), with an almost ‘stalker-like’ quality. Like a prince or a magician, Matt Hales’ promises to put a spell on the object of his affection so that when she wakes up, love will be realized.
In the next two songs, “Falling Out of Love� and “Good Times Gonna Come,� relationships are not going well but Hales believes things will be alright. In “Brighter Than Sunshine,� he realizes that he didn’t really know what love was about and didn’t believe in destiny, but having met this other, he sings, “What a feeling/in my soul/love burns brighter than sunshine.� Because of their relationship, everything is okay. Like Coldplay, this interchange probably revolves around a woman but can definitely express the love of another, or other. Hales experiences a more fleeting love, as he reprises the down-and-out relationship in “Breaking My Heart� and “Tongue-tied.� He remains hopeful, praying and waiting, but he’s dashed by the failures in love that he is experiencing.
Aqualung’s world is misassembled in “Left Behind,� where the world was once destroyed and put back together incorrectly, and he mourns a yesterday that would have led to tomorrow being completely different. His salvation in “You Turn Me Round� comes through a relationship with another and he recognizes that someone has to be around to catch him in “If I Fall.�
Going back against everything he’s moved toward in the album, Hales says that it’s “Easier to Lie� than tells the truth, because he doubts he can give the other what they need. He does continue to strive toward what is right and noble, but he’s faltering presently. Interestingly enough, it’s that desire to provide for rather than receive what we’re given in love that seems to drive spikes between our relationships with other people, and even with God. As he recognized in “If I Fall,� we’re unable to do it on our own—a positive outlook within Aqualung’s lyrics, but one that is often fleeting.
Aqualung doesn’t make any strong move toward faith but relationships seem to bolster his confidence. He does say it’s better to believe in something than nothing in “Extra Ordinary Thing� but that doesn’t send hope washing over me. The songs portray someone blown about or thrown around by the ways, grasping onto something that he hopes will anchor him. That idea makes sense (an aqualung being something that allows divers to be submerged longer than they could naturally exist) but I’d hoped for him to move past that to some sense of stability.
The stability of the album can only be found in relationships—and they appear as ‘flavor of the week.’ Rather than making friendships and developing trust, these relationships appear to be fleeting and ones that are ‘in lust,’ rather than ‘in love.’ That said, Aqualung has a great sound and he’s searching for something—I can’t wait for the next step along the way.
There’s a haunting sound to “Strange and Beautiful� and one can’t miss the subtitle “I’ll put a spell on you.� Much like the Police’s “Every Move You Make,� the watcher observes his love from afar and longs to love (and be loved), with an almost ‘stalker-like’ quality. Like a prince or a magician, Matt Hales’ promises to put a spell on the object of his affection so that when she wakes up, love will be realized.
In the next two songs, “Falling Out of Love� and “Good Times Gonna Come,� relationships are not going well but Hales believes things will be alright. In “Brighter Than Sunshine,� he realizes that he didn’t really know what love was about and didn’t believe in destiny, but having met this other, he sings, “What a feeling/in my soul/love burns brighter than sunshine.� Because of their relationship, everything is okay. Like Coldplay, this interchange probably revolves around a woman but can definitely express the love of another, or other. Hales experiences a more fleeting love, as he reprises the down-and-out relationship in “Breaking My Heart� and “Tongue-tied.� He remains hopeful, praying and waiting, but he’s dashed by the failures in love that he is experiencing.
Aqualung’s world is misassembled in “Left Behind,� where the world was once destroyed and put back together incorrectly, and he mourns a yesterday that would have led to tomorrow being completely different. His salvation in “You Turn Me Round� comes through a relationship with another and he recognizes that someone has to be around to catch him in “If I Fall.�
Going back against everything he’s moved toward in the album, Hales says that it’s “Easier to Lie� than tells the truth, because he doubts he can give the other what they need. He does continue to strive toward what is right and noble, but he’s faltering presently. Interestingly enough, it’s that desire to provide for rather than receive what we’re given in love that seems to drive spikes between our relationships with other people, and even with God. As he recognized in “If I Fall,� we’re unable to do it on our own—a positive outlook within Aqualung’s lyrics, but one that is often fleeting.
Aqualung doesn’t make any strong move toward faith but relationships seem to bolster his confidence. He does say it’s better to believe in something than nothing in “Extra Ordinary Thing� but that doesn’t send hope washing over me. The songs portray someone blown about or thrown around by the ways, grasping onto something that he hopes will anchor him. That idea makes sense (an aqualung being something that allows divers to be submerged longer than they could naturally exist) but I’d hoped for him to move past that to some sense of stability.
The stability of the album can only be found in relationships—and they appear as ‘flavor of the week.’ Rather than making friendships and developing trust, these relationships appear to be fleeting and ones that are ‘in lust,’ rather than ‘in love.’ That said, Aqualung has a great sound and he’s searching for something—I can’t wait for the next step along the way.
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