Brought to You By The Letters B & D

Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy, is back to the drawing board--or maybe I should say, he's back to the finger-painting easel. Right down to its faux-spooky instrumental interludes, two-part vocal harmonies, and happy xylophone riffs, Have You Fed the Fish? is distinguished by a colorful imagination and a childlike charm. It's as if the cast of Sesame Street got dumped by their girlfriends and started a band. This is not to say that the songs are simple. On the contrary, Boy explores very grown-up issues: marriage, loneliness, even--heck!--existential insecurity. However, he doesn't pretend to be fully grown-up himself; he acknowledges that part of him is still as confused as that Sesame Street-watching little boy.
Boy's lyrics ride the line between clever and silly, but his sweetly self-aware deliveries make the songs hit home. The title track, for instance, combines dramatic rock-ballad music with the chorus of "Have you fed the fish today?" Normally, this style would be more appropriate to the declaration of an all-consuming love rather than to the inquiry into a menial chore. However, in the context of Gough's voice, the combination doesn't feel ridiculous or ironic. Instead, it makes for an earnest and resonating reminder that "sometimes you've got to rewind to go forward." The ability to give new meaning to the otherwise mundane or silly is one of the most impressive traits of Badly Drawn Boy.
The rest of the album is filled with this same thoughtfulness, imagination, and wit. "You Were Right" is possibly music's only example of a reflection on one's own celebrity that doesn't induce queasiness. There's no self-pity or false modesty here; it's impossible not to love this guy when he deadpans, "I'm turning Madonna down / I'm calling it my best move / I'll get her tickets to what she needs." On the hopeful "Born Again," Boy wonders if "maybe there's a reason why I'm born again / There's something rare going on under my skies." As he declares, "I won't bail out, there'll be a reason for my soul again," his voice is carried by raw, rising guitars and a pounding piano. Next, on "40 Days, 40 Fights," he's back to being chased by girls on the playground. Here, the Boy contemplates a particular member of that elusive opposite sex--he can't remember her name, but he's sure that "there's something beautiful about it."
Unless they get offended by a few more electric guitars and a little more cheer, fans of Hour of Bewilderbeast, Boy's debut album, won't be disappointed. On Fed the Fish, Boy maintains the honest, struggling persona that produced his original appeal. And don't worry, he still has his sense of humor: the irony never escapes him. Despite these consistencies, though, don't expect the same old Boy. On Belwilderbeast, Badly Drawn Boy made mistakes with girls, friends, and himself. On Have You Fed the Fish?, he'll be the first to admit his faults ("You're quite right to ask me what's wrong with me / Wanna take a look inside my head?"). But though he might not have found all the answers, this badly drawn boy has started to fill in his edges a little more smoothly.

Badly Drawn Boy
Have You Fed The Fish?
(BMG ArtistDirect)