Aqualung masters words and music

In 2005 Aqualung made a splash stateside with Strange and Beautiful. Three years later Aqualung’s latest album, Words and Music, engenders Hales’ goal of creating mature, intimate and occasionally strange music.

The mellow melodies make Music an album that should not be listened to during late night road trips, while the heartfelt lyrics express openhearted emotion about real issues. However, for the lackadaisical listener it may be difficult to distinguish one song from the next.

Like many other albums these days, a great number of the songs on Words and Music focus on the different aspects of love.

From “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind” (“And I’m petrified / Hypnotized / Every time you walk by / And I can’t get you out of my mind”) to “On my Knees” (“Babe, no don’t leave me like this / I must have been crazy, girl, to do what I did, I’m on my knees / Don’t you feel me falling at your feet”) Aqualung manages to convey a full spectrum of the emotions that accompany love and relationships.

Two other songs that stand out are “Arrivals” and “When I Finally Get My Own Place.”

The former is an intriguing mixture of acoustic solos and not necessarily coherent lyrics. It’s as though each line is a new thought, one that was born out of the previous one but still separate. Thus, the song conveys an atmosphere or a general idea rather than a concrete one.

“When I Finally Get My Own Place” begins with the emotions of a college student who is finally on their own but by the end has degenerated into yet another ode to love.

This experimental album is littered with acoustic re-workings and is definitely more mature than what mainstream pop music tends to produce. The lofty goals Hales has for his music make this album easy for listeners to relate to. However, although there are a few tracks that seem to stand out after meticulous listening, most seem to blend together into one.