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| "we did a session down by the sea just outside Dublin – I suppose we were testing the labels' commitment by making them come there to see us" |
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CMU ALBUMS OF 2005: 'Hal'
released on 25 Apr on Rough Trade
The problem with the Rough Trade label is that they sign so many good artists that there is always a real danger that their records will pretty much fill up any list of CMU's favourite albums. Had this been our 20 favourite albums of the year, I'd say at least five would have come off their roster (and with the Strokes album, that arrived yesterday, and the much much much anticipated second album from Delays both due for early 2006 release, I suspect they may already be reserving slots on next year's favourite albums list too). But possibly our very favourite release from the Rough Trade fold in 2006 wasn't one of their biggest releases - the debut long player from Irish band Hal. This was one of those albums for which I developed a kind of amnesia. Each time my co-editor chose to play it (which was quite a lot) I'd find myself saying "I really like this - who is it?" That, I think, was because there is something so wonderfully familiar about Hal's music that you can't help thinking you are listening to an old favourite, and not a brand new album from a fledgling band. That is possibly because these guys are clearly influenced by some of the pop greats - Brian Wilson in particular - but it doesn't mean they have simply pillaged the jukebox of old. Hal have managed to hone their own style of happy sing along songs that only a fool couldn't warm to. According to their biog, Rough Trade A&Rs had to do battle with a stormy Irish night before first meeting the band, in a cramped house by the sea. Not the most favourable conditions in which to win a record contact, but if there was one band capable of filling some sad, damp, wind swept label execs with musical warmth and happiness, Hal are that band. So, while this was the soundtrack to CMU's summer, we can recommend that, should the wind, rain and cold of this season get too much, 'Hal' is a great winter album too. |
I won't tell you which band we were discussing at the time, but I think a more general interpretation could be made of a question Xfm's Eddy TM once posed: "why are we giving the kids angst ridden indie rock, as if they haven't got enough angst of their own already"? It's a good point, though that's not to say that either Eddy or myself would deny that bitterness and anxiety has been behind some great indie music. But sometimes I find myself wanting songs which are, you know, uplifting, musically at least. Happy songs to provide a soundtrack to hot summer days, or warm songs to cheer you up when it's cold outside. Which is why we need bands like Hal, whose eponymous debut album is full of tracks to brighten your soul.
"I never really think about whether a song is going to be happy or not", Hal's Dave Allen says, "I guess they turn out that way. We never really set out with anything specific in mind. I remember some singer songwriter, it might have been Paul Simon, saying that a songwriter never knows what he's doing, you just get all these ideas out there, and hope you spot the right idea. I guess that's what we do".
He's right of course, good songwriting rarely involves a concrete master plan, and if Allen and fellow band member and song writing partner Stephen O'Brien did set out to specifically write happy songs, it is unlikely they'd achieve anything as special as what appears on their debut album. And that slightly random approach seems to be at the heart of Hal.
"We never really set out to be a band," Allen continues, giving me a quick lowdown on how Hal came into being. "About two years ago me and Steve starting playing a bit of music together. Mainly Bob Dylan songs. In fact I think we started doing it originally because Steve said he was a Dylan fan, and I wanted to test just how much a fan he was. Then we started writing more songs, and my brother Paul joined us on bass and second vocals, and it all sort of went from there".
"We'd played about ten small shows in Dublin," David continues, "and sent out a few demos, but then we kind of took a step back. We needed to get a new drummer [Steve Hogan joined the band shortly after], and we weren't sure if we were going in the right direction. But then we started getting label interest, and they were saying 'we like what you're doing right now', it was a bit strange".
Because Hal had stopped gigging in Dublin, it posed a bit of a problem for those interested labels who now wanted to see the band play. "So we did a bit of an acoustic session at my dad's house," he continued, "which is down by the sea just outside Dublin. I suppose we were testing the labels' commitment by making them come there to see us!" But London's Rough Trade Records made the effort, and so a record deal was done.
"We probably had about half the album together at that point. We had a lot of songs, but not all of them would necessarily be right for this album. So we picked out the key songs that we knew were going to be on there, and worked on tying other songs in, to make the album work as a whole".
Pretty much every review of that album will make mention of the obvious Beach Boys or Brian Wilson influences - which I guess is another way of describing Hal's catchy uplifting sound. Wilson is undeniably a big influence - "Steve reintroduced me to the Beach Boys very early on, encouraging me to go back and really look at that stuff" - though Allen likes to think that it is the Beach Boys' spirit more than anything else that can found in his band's music. Which brings back to the randomness.
"I think Brian Wilson would be the first to admit that he had all these ideas buzzing around in his head of what this song or that track might sound like, but that until he got into the process of recording he really didn't know how something would turn out. Each song starts on the acoustic guitar, but you have to go on a bit of a journey with it to find out where it's going to end".
However it works in the studio, and the Hal boys are on to something, because the album they unleashed in April was fantastic, earning them a loyal fanbase and much critical acclaim. "It's been a good year", Allen admits, looking at the months that followed the album release. "We've been touring a lot - a bit of Europe, lots of UK - a week in America, a week in Japan. That was a real highlight. We played the Summer Sonic festival, which was brilliant - and doubly good because we got to see loads of bands we really like."
Will the touring experience alter the Hal sound as they start work on album number two? "No, I don't think so. We'll do the same thing probably - we'll forget who we are, and what we've done, and see what else we can come up with. We are in the embryonic stage of the second album just now. We're always writing songs, but we'll see where we go with the album once we start work on it properly".
Following such a good 2005, and with work on album number two underway, what are David's ambitions as we enter the New Year. "At the moment, to get the next album done. More generally - to just carry on making records. And to have fun making them". Let's hope they get to do just that.
David from Hal's favourite artists of 2005:
"We toured with Duke Special. He's fantastic. Yeah, check him out".
David from Hal's New Year Resolutions:
"To have a bit more focus. On getting the second album done at least".
Some Hal plugging:
Hal's eponymous album was released on 25 Apr 2005 on Rough Trade.
chris@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - published dec 2005
