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It’s been an eventful year for HAL. From playing second fiddle to bands such as Doves and The Thrills to non-stop touring demands that have kept the Irish quartet firmly on British soil. Not to say that it’s not beginning to pay dividends. Evidently a support slot with The Thrills revealed that HAL’s sun-kissed melodies were cut from a different cloth altogether. The emperor’s clothes were more than just a dressed up hue and the music press reacted in kind to hold HAL up as the essential "quiet" band of 2005.
The band shuffle onto the stage with the sort of shy modesty you’d expect from a group yet to earn its stripes. Siblings Dave and Paul Allen mumble a Southern Irish "Hello" before breaking into lush melodies and a group harmonic that leaves the Barfly crowd in sheer wonderment. The crowning glory in HAL’s makeup is the ability to sound breezily fresh whilst drawing heavily on the influences of Brian Wilson, Van Morrison and Harry Nilsson.
'What A Lovely Dance' may have struggled to keep up pace with a tortoise, but its dual harmonics and Steve O’ Brien’s salon bar piano hooks place a broad smile on most in the crowd. Here is the sound of a band that know how to control the intimate atmospherics of the Barfly and the gorgeous 'Keep Love As Your Golden Rule' is testament to this, a slow brooding anthem that seemingly repeats its winning chorus over and over but never to the point where it sounds wet and anodyne.
The bands biggest hit, aptly titled 'Play The Hits', fuses together all the key elements of a Motown classic, at one point it almost feels like you're being transported into an episode of Heartbeat. There’s just enough time for one more beautifully crafted lament before HAL say their hushed goodbyes and leave the stage to blend into the Barfly crowd to toast a job well done. HAL are unlikely to move any musical mountains or cut the sort of records that whiff of pungent originality. But that’s what great pop records are, made up of other great pop records until we reach full circle. For HAL, making unashamedly shiny retro pop for the 21st century is integral to their success. Fundamentally, they deliver the goods better than most.
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