AQUALUNG TO RELEASE WORDS & MUSIC ON OCTOBER 7

Singer/songwriter Matt Hales makes Verve Forecast debut, announces first solo US tour

 

On Tuesday, October 7, 2008, Aqualung will release Words & Music. The ten-song record marks the Verve Forecast debut by Aqualung, aka British singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Matt Hales. Hales is also announcing a mini-tour of major U.S. markets following the release of this new album. This is Hales’ first tour as a solo performer.   

 

Words & Music – the fourth album by Aqualung/Hales – is an intimate set of organically melodic tunes with open-hearted lyrics and mostly acoustic arrangements. Words & Music features some of Hales' most compelling work to date, including such subtly soulful tunes as “Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind,” "Arrivals," and "When I Finally Get My Own Place."

 

The album beings with the lush, beautiful “7 Keys” and then heads into a poignant interpretation of Paul Simon's '70s classic "Slip-Sliding Away." Other songs featured on Words & Music include “Everything Changed” and “Nothing Else Matters.”

 

Hales co-produced the record with his brother and musical right-hand man Ben Hales. Ben co-wrote several songs, including the Beatlesque “Mr. Universe,” the delicate “Good Goodnight,” and the heartfelt “On My Knees,” the lead-off single from the album. Ben also provides guitar, bass, percussion, and pedal steel throughout the album, as well as harmony vocals.

 

Words and Music is the product of an extended period of soul-searching that caused the artist to seriously reexamine his career priorities, after a life that's been spent making music. Hales, who began writing songs at the age of four, achieved some unexpected success when his demo of the song "Strange and Beautiful" appeared in a Volkswagen TV commercial and immediately struck a chord with listeners.  That fluke occurrence turned Aqualung from a modest lo-fi bedroom recording project into a successful major-label act. 

 

Following the October 7 release of Words & Music, Hales will  be performing at the following U. S. venues:

 

October 9                      New York, NY                Joe's Pub

October 10                    Brooklyn, NY                 Union Hall                    

October 12                    Philadelphia, PA            World Cafe

October 13                    Boston, MA                  Cafe 939                      

October 14                    Chicago, IL                    Schuba's                       

October 15                    San Francisco, CA         Swedish American Hall

October 16                    Los Angeles, CA           Paul Gleason Theater 

 

Aqualung – Words & Music [B0012108-02] available October 7, 2008.

 

www.verveforecast.com               www.aqualung.net