Critically-Acclaimed UK Musician Selected as a VH1 'You Oughta Know' Artist
Aqualung Tour Begins September 7
NEW YORK, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Aqualung, the musical brainchild of
British prodigy Matt Hales, will headline an upcoming North American tour,
presented by VH1, beginning September 7 in St. Louis (see itinerary
following). Support acts on the Aqualung/VH1 tour will include The Perishers
and Tracy Bonham.
Aqualung has recently been selected by VH1 as a "You Oughta Know" artist
while a clip for the hit "Brighter Than Sunshine," directed by Elliott Lester
(Jason Mraz and Sum 41), is currently in heavy rotation on the music channel.
Aqualung recently taped three performances for "Live @ VH1.com": "Brighter
Than Sunshine," "Left Behind," and "Strange & Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On
You)," the song that broke Aqualung in the UK. Log on to VH1.com for the
latest tour updates and for more information on Aqualung.
"Brighter Than Sunshine," the first single from Strange & Beautiful,
Aqualung's American debut album, is currently a Top 15 record at Triple A
radio. The track is a key song in the film and on A Lot Like Love (Music From
The Motion Picture), the soundtrack from the Touchstone Pictures and Beacon
Pictures romantic comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet. The DVD
edition of "A Lot Like Love," slated for release on August 23, will feature an
exclusive film-related version of the video for "Brighter Than Sunshine,"
which differs from the video seen on VH1.
A live version of "Brighter Than Sunshine," recorded at the Shepherd's
Bush Empire theatre in London, is part of a new Aqualung EP, available for
downloading exclusively on iTunes. The exclusive iTunes Aqualung EP, released
on August 16, includes the rare b-sides "Nothing Else Matters" and "Over."
Strange & Beautiful is currently #3 on the Billboard Alternative New
Artist Album Sales chart and has just jumped from #12 to #9 on the Heatseekers
Album Sales chart.
Aqualung drew raves from the stateside press during his first North
American tour earlier this year. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
"The fragile feminine tilt of his voice recalled the hard shell of
professionalism that once surrounded the profound vulnerability of the late
Jeff Buckley."
Rolling Stone, in a four-star review of Strange & Beautiful in its March
10th issue, wrote: "Uniting Radiohead-ish British rock and symphonic pop in
the masterly mold of Burt Bacharach, the Beatles and the Beach Boys, tenor
Hales delivers keenly focused keyboard-based drama that blows away all
pretenders trailing in Coldplay's wake. 'Garden State' soundtrack fans, take
note."
Entertainment Weekly rated the album an "A-," praising its " ... gorgeous,
lo-fi Coldplay swoons by British balladeer Matt Hales, highlighted by the
must-hear title track."
According to People magazine's three-star review, "Aqualung breathes a
strange beauty into these atmospheric, keyboard-driven tracks with his
choirboy tenor and sumptuous arrangements that at times achieve an almost
classic grandeur."
With tracks remastered for its inaugural release in America, and song
selection curated by Hales, Strange & Beautiful provides a perfect
introduction to the music of Aqualung, an impeccably cohesive collection
culled from Aqualung's critically-acclaimed best-selling UK albums, Aqualung
(2002) and Still Life (2003). American audiences may already be familiar with
Aqualung's music through its appearances in such hit TV programs as
"Smallville," "Nip/Tuck," and "The OC."
Strange & Beautiful includes Aqualung's breakthrough single, "Strange &
Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)," the mesmerizing track which first
introduced Hales' music to the public in 2002 via an enormously successful
Volkswagen Beetle television ad campaign. Powerful and enigmatic, the single
version of "Strange & Beautiful," from Aqualung's self-titled debut album, hit
the UK singles Top 10 (#7) that same year.
Strange & Beautiful features four other UK hits from Aqualung, including
that album's second single, "Good Times Gonna Come," and "If I Fall," the
title track from Aqualung's double-disk EP.
VH1 PRESENTS AQUALUNG TOUR DATES
09/07/05 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill
09/08/05 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater
09/09/05 Chicago, II The Metro
09/10/05 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Cafe
09/12/05 Kansas City, MO Grand Emporium
09/13/05 Omaha, NE Sokol Underground
09/14/05 Boulder, CO Fox Theater
09/17/05 Seattle, WA Showbox
09/20/05 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
09/21/05 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theatre
09/22/05 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theater
09/24/05 Austin, TX Austin City Limits
09/25/05 Dallas, TX Trees
09/28/05 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Ram's Head Live
09/29/05 New York, NY Webster Hall
09/30/05 Philadelphia, PA TLA
10/01/05 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
10/02/05 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
10/04/05 Knoxville, TN Blue Cats
10/05/05 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
10/06/05 Louisville, KY Phoenix Hill Tavern
10/07/05 Grand Rapids, MI Calvin College Fine Arts Center
10/08/05 Cleveland, OH Cambridge Room @ House Of Blues
10/09/05 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
SOURCE Columbia Records
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Related links:
http://www.columbiarecords.com
http://www.aqualungmusic.com http://www.vh1.com
CONTACT:
Benny Tarantini, Media - New York,
+1-212-833-5858, Benny.Tarantini@sonybmg.com, or Tour Press:
Sandee Gardner, Media, Santa Monica, +1-310-449-2902,
Sandee.Gardner@sonybmg.com, both of Columbia Records
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