FEARGAL SHARKEY: BIG VOICE, BIG SOUND, BIG DEAL!

Former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey is the proud parent of two new albums. One, titled Feargal Sharkey, features a big, bright array of widescreen pop music, produced by his buddy Dave Stewart from Eurythmics. The other, with the same name, contains perhaps the gloomiest bunch of songs to come along since Job's last record.

The platters in guestion, of course, are one and the same, and the split personality is entirely intentional, says the 27-year-old Sharkey. "On a superficial level, hopefully it's just a good noise coming out of the speakers," he smiles. "But there's more going on if you dig deeper. I've always admired that technigue of songwriting, Smokey Robinson's 'Tears Of A Clown' being a classic case."

Holed up in a conference room in A&M Records' Manhattan office for the standard promotional interviews, Feargal Sharkey, the person, embodies the same kinds of contrasts that mark Feargal Sharkey, the LP. With his hawkish visage, he looks like a cool cat in his loose-fitting dark suit and wraparound shades, dragging on an endless chain of Marlboros as he confidently discusses the album. Then, he'll speak in a nervous rush and admit he's still a beginner. Split personality, indeed.