AQUALUNG

Magnetic North

[Verve Music Group]

It’s not surprising that Aqualung leader Matt Hales’ career was kickstarted by a song featured in a Volkswagen television ad. A purveyor of lightly orchestrated piano pop, the Brit-turned-Californian makes populist music that goes down easy and runs determinedly forward. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, but Hale’s yearning falsetto and tinkly melodies—on full display on Magnetic North—are flavored with more saccharin than substance. Divided evenly between bouncy, uptempo ditties (“New Friend,” “Fingertip”) and somnolent, lumbering ballads (“Sundowning,” “Remember”), the album casts Hale as a two-trick pony. Music fans of a certain age will be reminded of Eric Carmen’s solo work, while the younger set might be put in mind of Five for Fighting’s John Ondrasik. The sole exception is “California,” a Coldplay-style ballad fitted with cathedral piano, strummed guitar, and a vocal that ratchets down the cloying drama for at least its frustratingly brief minute-and-a-half running time.

–Russell Hall