Have You Fed the Fish
The second full-length album (not counting his superbsoundtrack toAbout a Boy) by Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy, reveals the true depths of his songwriting and arranging talents. While his debut,The Hour of the Bewilderbeast, knocked us dead with his fey, indie-folk-rock sensibilities,Have You Fed the Fishshows a musician striving for top-shelf greatness in the pantheon of British pop, à la theBeatles,Oasis, andRadiohead. Lush arrangements with strings, horns, a very grand piano, and guitars abound, with a richness rarely found in pop and rock music these days. Gough's songwriting is topnotch and by turns catchy and clever, stinging and personal. But you've been warned: this album gives us less of the indie-pop hero you may want to love, and more of a classic rock idol in the making.Beck/Elliott Smithproducer Tom Rothrock is at the helm, and the glossy sheen that results may offend some lo-fi "slacker pop" aficionados.--Lorry Fleming