Concert Review: Glenn Tilbrook:

London Islington Union Chapel

December 15, 2016

 

One half of the Squeeze writing partnership, Tilbrook went solo to celebrate the Best Of Times, performing acoustically songs from his 40-year career. His son, Leon, was welcomed early on with a dynamic version of Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well, earning the right to perform a few promising songs of his own. With a set-list sensibly alternating between hits and hidden treasures, Take Me, I’m Yours and the good-humoured Labelled With Love didn’t overshadow the beauty of golden nugget, The Waiting Game.

Cradle To The Grave proved that there’s still plenty of lead in the writing team pencil, while, swapping acoustic for electric guitar, Tilbrook went into jukebox mode for covers of One Day I’ll Fly Away and a storming Friday On My Mind. The acoustic returned for Black Coffee In Bed, complete with jovial doo-wop echo backing vocals from standing fans at the rear. Pulling Mussels (From The Shell) and the reflective Persephone ended a capitivating evening.

 

Mark Taylor

Concert Review: Glenn Tilbrook: Stockton Arc

November 29, 2016

 

SQUEEZE’S Glenn Tilbrook is something of a regular to the ARC stage and it was good to welcome him back on his Best of Times tour to see him deliver a terrific set of classics, solo material and deftly picked covers.

He and songwriting partner Chris Difford are responsible for some of the most iconic songs of the 1970s and 1980s, but what often gets overlooked is what an outstanding guitarist Tilbrook is. This tour, he is alone on stage with a handful of guitars and the songs stripped back to their barest.

The Squeeze songs, which included Tempted, Labelled With Love, Up The Junction, Another Nail In My Heart, Some Fantastic Place and Black Coffee in Bed, are simply timeless and had everyone singing along and dancing in the aisles of the packed theatre.

Tilbrook's confidence and stagecraft is such that after originally declining audience requests for Cool For Cats, saying he couldn't compete with Chris Difford's original vocal, but would play it if someone fancied a go at the vocals. Audience member Phil accepted the challenge, joined him on stage and did a fine job.

Solo tracks like Persephone and the amusing Genitalia of a Fool were mixed with covers of the Kinks' So Tired, the Easybeats' Friday On My Mind and even One Day I'll Fly Away, rescuing the song from forever being associated with a certain Christmas television advertisement.

It was a sublime evening that left everyone, Tilbrook included, with huge smiles on their faces.

 

Dave Lawrence

Concert Review: Glenn Tilbrook, Smith’s Olde Bar, Atlanta

October 3, 2014

 

During the early 1980s, amid such megastars as Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Def Leppard

and Men at Work, there was Squeeze. The group, fronted by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford,

drew comparisons to Lennon and McCartney for their Beatlesque music. The group’s fans

were smarter than your average music fan, one notch up from Elvis Costello fans.  They

marveled at lyrical references to Harold Robbins novels and William Tell.  They had their

black coffee in bed. They were different.

So was the crowd at Glenn Tilbrook’s latest stop in Atlanta Thursday; about 80 of the 100

people gathered at Smith’s Olde Bar were older than 40; half were over 50 and/or

approaching 60. But they knew every word of every song, singing along with Tilbrook and

bouncing around like it was 1980.

I am in my 40s, but I lived a sheltered life in north Georgia, far away from obscure British

bands who couldn’t quite latch on in America. It wasn’t until 1988 when I discovered this band,

and I immediately caught on to their clever lyrics. But the music – the instantly memorable

melodies that got into your head and bonded with those lyrics to create stories, little vignettes

that were almost literary in and of themselves – that is what caught my ear.

Tilbrook was the man behind most of those melodies, the most popular one being 1981’s “Tempted.” Indeed, when I told everyone I was going to see Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, I got blank stares. Then I sang “Tempted,” and they all nodded, “Oh yeah, I love that song!”

Tilbrook didn’t perform “Tempted” that night – perhaps it’s grown wearisome over the years – but he played almost every other song from the group’s greatest hits compilation, Singles: 45s and Under, the album in which I first became familiar with them. He hadn’t changed much over the years, even though, like his fans, he’s approaching 60. His hair draping past his ears and flying in wisps from the two circular fans on stage, he dazzled the crowd not so much with his clear, angelic voice – the guy could sing from a phone book and make it sound good – but his guitar wizardry. Starting with an acoustic guitar, he flew through instrumental phrases with ease, his fingers hustling across the fretboard.

Later Tilbrook switched to an electric guitar, but he was still the only performer on stage. He stayed relatively quiet between songs, opting to focus on the music this night. He played some songs from his quirky but tuneful new album, Happy Ending, but the crowd responded  mostly to the music of their youth. He encored with even more hits, “Hourglass,” “Goodbye Girl,” and “Another Nail in My Heart.”

During “Black Coffee in Bed,” the audience spontaneously broke into background vocals while Tilbrook sang the lead vocals. And at that moment, as I looked around, I no longer saw old people awkwardly trying to relive their younger days. I saw older people still enthusiastic about music – so much that they danced around, singing each lyric with smiles on their faces. They were still young, and they could still dance around recklessly while still spouting the innovative rhymes and symbolic lyrics, sometimes delivered at top speed.

I, too, smiled silently, knowing we were the precious few, the proud Squeeze fans who got it. And we would never let go.

By Peter Lee

Glenn Tilbrook at Minglewood Hall, Memphis

October 2, 2014

 

Turn on any classic hits radio station, and sooner rather than later, you'll hear "Tempted" by Squeeze. Its catchy melody has crept into my mind more than once, usually while trying to concentrate on a test or while unsuccessfully trying to fall asleep. The song has become an earworm in American pop culture through its use in ad campaigns by companies like GAP, Burger King, Heineken, and Fruit of the Loom. You can hear the record's producer, Elvis Costello, singing backup on the verse. The band rerecorded the track for a scene in Reality Bites, wherein '90s "It Girls" Winona Ryder and Janeane Garofalo croon along and dance to it in Ryder's junky BMW. It even shows up in the video game Grand Theft Auto. Not bad for a single that never cracked the Top 40.

One of the architects of the song will be in town on Saturday. Squeeze frontman Glenn Tilbrook is on the road promoting his new album, Happy Ending. The record is being sold in a vinyl bundle that includes a CD and download of the album. I asked Tilbrook what he thought about the recent resurgence of wax — which 10 or 15 years ago was basically seen as an archaic format.

"I've always loved vinyl. I have a huge collection. Some of which are doubles and triples. But I don't think I ever really thought about it making a comeback. The idea of selling the new album as a three-format package was to try and include everyone. When you get to be my age, you can sometimes feel alienated with technology developing. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for new technology, but I also love the old things that worked."

Happy Ending is an acoustically orchestrated album. Gone are Squeeze's lush, layered sounds — replaced instead by orchestral acoustic guitars and percussion. The record is a collection of character sketches, the best being "Rupert," which which tells the tale of the phone hacking scandal involving News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch. "Dennis," "Peter," "Kev and Dave," and "Persephone," follow in the character sketchbook from which Tilbrook draws. He weaves a tapestry of whimsical narratives across the album's 12 songs.

Tilbrook formed Squeeze in 1974 with Chris Difford. The pair had a run of hit singles in their native England, with Difford penning the lyrics and Tilbrook composing the music. Tilbrook sang most of their hits, but "Tempted" was actually sung by new keyboardist Paul Carrack, whose previous band Ace, had scored a huge single with "How Long." Squeeze had other minor hits in the U.S. with "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" and "Black Coffee in Bed." As someone who had sold a lot of records, I asked Tilbrook how he felt about music streaming services. "I think Spotify is an amazing source to listen to such an eclectic mix of music. You stumble across different genres and sounds that you might not usually listen to if you didn't have so much choice available. I love listening to new music. Whether it's newly released or just new to me, and I encourage everyone to listen to as much as they can."

After Squeeze's second breakup in 1999 (their first hiatus came in 1983 when Tilbrook and Difford took a break from Squeeze and released a record entitled, appropriately enough, Difford & Tilbrook), Tilbrook set out on a solo tour. A documentary, One for the Road, followed Tilbrook on his 2001 American solo tour. Directed by first timer Amy Pickard, the film chronicles his trip across the country. Gone were the tour buses and hotel rooms, replaced instead by the RV Tilbrook drove himself, sleeping in campgrounds and facing multiple vehicle breakdowns with good humor. His performances became known for their conversational style and walkabouts during the concert that would often lead the entire audience out of the venue and across the street to a bar for drinks and more songs. If you're lucky, maybe your Saturday night will end with Tilbrook serenading you from atop the bar at the P&H.

By SEVERIN ALLGOOD

Glenn Tilbrook, Jefferson Grizzard, Carrboro

October 1, 2014

 

As half of the songwriting team behind Squeeze, Glenn Tilbrook used tuneful, articulate pop to depict life and lust in South London. With partner Chris Difford, Squeeze earned Lennon/McCartney comparisons. As with those legends, tensions eventually drove them apart. With pipes virtually undiminished, his solo performances add sing-along spontaneity to a bounty of classics.

By David Klein

The Guardian, Nov 2014

Chris Difford And Glen Tilbrook Of Squeeze

Grand Opera House, York

 

Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook together wrote most of Squeeze's big hits: they were often referred to as the Lennon and McCartney of the early 1980's. On their current UK tour they have decided to go back to basics and to go out on the road just by themselves with the tour billed as The Odd Couple. The stage set resembles a bed sit with the gig starting with the two of them getting out of a bed at the back of their stage in their pyjamas! Not your typical gig. What follows is a musical history of the duo. A large video screen behind them shows old footage of Squeeze right from the early days in 1973 and when Chris Difford put an advert in the window of the local sweet shop advertising for a guitarist.

Tilbrook sings Black Coffee in Bed, fittingly still in his pyjamas whilst playing his Rhodes piano. The evening flows between duets, solo spots and questions from the audience. I pose the question to them what was the idea behind the tour? "We thought we would try a theatrical version of our songs" Difford shares "the stage set is a fictional version of our house."

Now in their day time wear the track Is That Love? still sounds as fresh as it did when you first heard it.

It is not all about nostalgia though, a new song is premiered entitled The Beautiful Game, which is off the new Squeeze album due next spring. Difford sings Fat as a Fiddle about his battle with gaining weight. "I went to have a recce at the local gym and saw all these sweaty bodies, out of the corner I could see the bakers, the bakers won in the end" he laughs as he shares the joke with the audience.

The drum parts of Up the Junction are supplied by the crowd with their handclaps. With such a string back catalogue the night ends with Annie Get Your Gun, Tempted and of course, Cool for Cats. It was an easy going night and like revisiting two old friends. It had been a night in the company of two cool cats who are still masters of their game.

- Graham Clark, The Yorkshire Times, Nov 2014

Chris Difford And Glen Tilbrook Of Squeeze Grand Opera House, York

 

Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, York Grand Opera House SOME fantastic place, this warm venue, and the lads’ songs, took us, Kinks-like, to some other fantastic, half-imagined world of muddy football matches, forlorn young romances and seaside ice-creams. This old, grand theatre of a previous age felt right for what was almost a stage show by one of pop’s best odd couples:

lyricist Chris Difford and melody maker Glenn Tilbrook.

The performance started with the pair asleep, like Morecambe and Wise, in a bed in a lovingly and seemingly expensively, recreated 1970s living room/bedroom; complete with horrendous wallpaper.

Then the first - black and white – image appeared on the large video screen behind the bed: a scribbled note, displayed in a sweet shop in 1973. It was the real advert for a guitarist written by Chris Difford in his local shop, which lied that he was in a hot band with tour booked. A 15-year-old Glenn, egged on by his girlfriend, answered it and so began a sometimes warm, sometimes frosty friendship and song writing partnership that gave us major 1970s and 80s hits like Up the Junction, Cool for Cats, Labelled with Love and Tempted. All excellent, and all dutifully and joyfully played by the pair.

But it was the other, often better and still accessible songs that stole the show in between the pair’s jokey chat about their lives and music. Those songs deserve to be at least as famous, especially the one with the tear-jerking lyric and the joyful tune about a much-loved friend of both: the girlfriend who prodded Glenn into replying to that advert. She died horribly young and their tribute song to her, their finest, is some testimony: Some Fantastic Place.

- Chris Webber, The Northern Echo, Nov 2014

Glenn Tilbrook Live: We Had the Best of Times! Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA

September 23, 2014

 

I owe the world of pop an apology.  Why have I not been keeping up with the career of Glenn Tilbrook, the honey voiced former lead singer of Squeeze?  I have no reasonable answer, and I am ashamed.

 

I was shown the light in two sets on a lovely fall night by the one-man, one-guitar, two-mismatched shoes pop assault Tilbrook passionately laid down to captivated fans at the Brighton Music Hall.  From Squeeze classics like “Tempted”, “Goodbye Girl”, and “Up The Junction,” delivered in pitch perfect tones, to bright new songs “Everybody Sometimes,” “Ray,” and the achingly perfect “Persephone” from his current release “Happy Ending” Tilbrook was a commanding stage presence, leading his breathless audience from one chipper guitar hook high to the next.  Friendly and charming from the stage, with hair flying wildly in the breeze provided by fans aimed directly at the singer, he waxed poetic with trivia about songs, life and career, involving the crowd in sing alongs they needed little prompting to join.  Still snoggable at 57, after the show the singer popped down to his immaculately manicured merch table to send fans home with autographed goodies, but for others he just merely sent us home with a fire in our hearts.  Was it the glowing coals of youthful crushes reignited, or the warming sensation of pop perfection we were feeling?  Is it important we discern the difference?  Probably not.

– Erin Amar

Glenn Tilbrook: City Winery,

New York, NY

September 26, 2014

 

Touring solo without his long-time writing partner

Chris Difford no longer seems to be terrifying for

Glenn Tilbrook. Over the years throughout all of

the (many) break-ups, stops, starts, reformations

and reconfigurations of Squeeze, Tilbrook has

managed to build a very credible solo canon of

work. Always at home on stage, Tilbrook's solo

song-writing continues to evolve. As the co-writer

of all of those fantastic Squeeze songs, Tilbrook

was responsible for the music and Difford the

lyrics. During the past dozen or so years,

Tilbrook's songs writing acumen has grown exponentially. When he released his first solo CD The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook (What Are Records, 2001) Tilbrook freely admitted that writing the lyrics was the hardest part. The music came easily. At that time he proved that he could make it on his own.

Now, in 2014, Squeeze is again a working band. It has been selling copies of the self-produced Arse In Face EP (2012) at its concerts, has plans to record new material and will return to tour the United States in 2015. Tilbrook has never been one to let the grass grow under his feet. He has decided to undertake a solo tour (without his solo backing band, the Fluffers) and play alone with just an acoustic and electric guitar in a number of intimate venues across the U.S.

On a warm Friday in late September, Tilbrook played the second of two sold- out nights at New York's City's only fully-functioning winery, City Winery. The winery which is also a word-class restaurant is a regular stop for some of the most critically acclaimed acts in the business including Prince, Peter Wolf, Macy Gray, Jeff Bridges, Graham Nash, Shelby Lynne, David Bromberg, X, John Hiatt, Dave Mason, Matthew Sweet, Aaron Neville and Patti Smith.

Always completely at ease on stage, whether he's cracking jokes, singing solo offerings, performing classic Squeeze songs, offering inspired cover songs or leading the audience in a round of "Happy Birthday" sung to his writing partner Chris Difford all the while snapping selfies with Difford's son Riley, Tilbrook never disappoints. Over the years he has become much more than just a frontman. He's more than just a musical arranger— now full-fledged songwriter. He has become a consummate entertainer. The evening began when Tilbrook bounded onto the stage with a hearty, "Hey!" When the crowd responded in kind, he, for good measure and maximum effect repeated what for Tilbrook amounted to his own version of a "rebel yell." Interspersing witty banter with his music, Tilbrook was "in the zone." From the moment he stepped on stage, the singer had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Touring in support of Happy Ending his 2014 Quixotic Records solo release, Tilbrook played long and hard—two tour-de-force acoustic sets delving deep into both his solo catalogue as well as the Squeeze canon. Interjecting humor and fun banter (he told a great story about being the scruffy Glenn Tilbrook as he was wearing an old but comfortable blazer, t-shirt and old faded jeans) between the songs, his two sets featured the classic Squeeze songs that the audience members hoped to and expected to hear: "Take Me I'm Yours," "The Elephant Ride," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Some Fantastic Place," "Black Coffee In Bed," "Labelled With Love," "In Quintessence," "Messed Around" (which he slyly introduced by stating, "I am gonna rock...in a gentle way on an electric guitar."), "Goodbye Girl" "Piccadilly," "Slightly Drunk" and, of course, "Tempted."

Tilbrook also treated his fans to songs recorded for his solo albums and for the Co-operative. These post-Squeeze songs included "Persephone" (which he explained was about someone that that he met at a festival during the '70s), "Chat Line Larry" (recorded with the Co-Operative), "By The Light Of The Cash Machine" (from The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook), "Ray" and "Best Of Times" (from Happy Ending) and "Black Sheep" from the Glenn Tilbrook & The Fluffers Pandemonium Ensures CD (Quixotic Records, 2009) He also had the audience sing along with him on "Ice Cream" which he dedicated to his grandfather who he explained was a musician in his own rite who taught him the tune when he was young. The evening's truly inspired covers were note perfect renditions of The Kinks' "Tired of Waiting For You" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Traveling Band." Lastly, he explained that it would be Chris Difford's 60th birthday on November 4th. He brought Difford's son Riley on stage, set his iPhone to record and focused it on the two of them as they led the crowd to a hilarious (if off-key due to the poor singing capabilities of the audience) rendition of "Happy Birthday." The show wound down as Tilbrook played the Creedence cover followed by "Another Nail in My Heart." When he set down his guitar and took a bow at the center of the small stage, the audience members rose from their seats and gave the smiling Englishman a rousing standing ovation. Tilbrook then left the stage.

After an extremely short pause, he returned to the stage, thanked the audience once more and played Squeeze's "Up The Junction." When the song ended the audience again rose to its feet, cheered and whistled. Tilbrook acknowledged the love with a wave, a wink and some warm parting words. Pointing toward the merchandise table, he invited the audience to "stop by and say hello."

– Mike Perciaccante

The Roost, Texas, Austin

October 6, 2014

 

Squeeze co-founder Glenn Tilbrook earned his place in the gold circle of British pop tunesmiths with fully realized aural portraits like “Up the Junction” and “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell).” Heard in a solo acoustic context, he exudes intimate charm. Latest release Happy Ending bears familiar traces of deeply articulated pop melancholia. “Dennis” chronicles a chance meeting with the Beach Boys drummer at Squeeze’s faux-farewell show in 1982, while “Ray” details an aging man’s impending irrelevance with razor sharp accuracy. – Greg Beets

Glenn Tilbrook with Jefferson Grizzard and David George

RecordBar, Kansas City

October 13, 2014

 

Solo acoustic shows can be quiet old things, but last night Glenn Tilbrook shattered that stereotype. From the moment he pounced onstage and invited the crowd to sing along with “Best of Times,” Tilbrook played like a full band - and much to the joy of fans, that band was Squeeze.

Tilbrook has a handful of articulate, warm, funny and sometimes heartbreaking albums in his post-Squeeze musical life, but realistically, fans come to shows aching for the songs he wrote decades ago with Chris Difford. Monday night, Tilbrook delivered more than a dozen Squeeze songs, from the expected to very deep cuts. Much to the surprise of the crowd, he even brought out a new Squeeze song, “From the Cradle to the Grave,” and the promise of a new Squeeze album early next year. For the hundred or so fans packed into the RecordBar last night, it was Christmas in October.

The first few songs, “Persephone,” from Tilbrook’s new solo record Happy Endings, and “Ter-Wit Ter-Woo,” from a collaborative called the Co-Operative with British band Nine Below Zero, were surprises. As he paused to tune up, Tilbrook explained that on this three-week tour, he’d been cast as “an exaggerated version of myself: scruffy, unkempt, a bit frayed.” In a sports jacket and gently used jeans, he looked mild-mannered enough. Tilbrook then broke out “Monkey,” a groove-based rocker he co-wrote long ago with Chris Difford - “When we were children, really” – for the 1970s rock band Dr. Feelgood. It was unfortunate that the dance floor was packed elbow to elbow with 60 seated fans.

Tilbrook is a sweater, he admitted to the crowd last night, apologetically explaining the simple floor fan trained on him throughout the show. “It’s not an affectation, I just get hot.” The honesty was charming: With his impressive, poodle-like gray bangs blowing back in the breeze and his affectionate tilt toward the crowd, Tilbrook looked like a professor from central casting perched on the prow of a yacht, clipping along spryly at about fifty knots. The man looked happy.

And once he launched into the Squeeze material, the crowd was even happier. It was easy to forget that the band broke up in 1982, and Tilbrook’s versions of “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Take Me I’m Yours” were raucous, even on acoustic guitar. When he moved to the thunder of a 12-string for “Is That Love” and “Up the Junction,” Tilbrook’s talents as a storyteller truly shone.

After a break and a costume change - new sport coat, green sparkly shoes - Tilbrook professed a “need for electric guitar,” and the show kicked up into a league the crowd hadn’t expected at all. In the prime years of Squeeze, bassist John Bentley was huge part of their sound, and Chris Difford’s buzzing voice - a deep counterpoint to Tilbrook’s soulful tenor - gave the band’s vocals their signature sound. Somehow, impossibly, Tilbrook found a way to evoke both with his guitar playing.

Tilbrook is known as a songwriter, but he deserves more credit for his guitar work and vocal power. His growls, though not quite in Otis Redding territory, would at least give Joe Cocker a run for his money. In the second half of his set, Tilbrook went way beyond simply recreating the Squeeze sound solo. “Tempted” was transformed into a Muscle Shoals workout, and “Hourglass,” with its rapid fire chorus of Take it to the bridge/Throw it overboard gave him (and the crowd) a chance to really shake out the pipes. The last part of the set was a cascade of the hits, from “Black Coffee in Bed” to “Another Nail in My Heart” to “Pulling Mussels from a Shell,” and they just kept getting better.

Tilbrook’s encore was, of course, “Goodbye Girl,” and he closed it with a few quick scat choruses and jazz guitar (and a quick “Thanks, loves” at the end). During the show, his hints at upcoming tours with Difford (and perhaps a version of Squeeze) made it clear that next time, the man will need a bigger room.

Leftovers: You have to love an acoustic set that features both cello and trombone. Local songwriter David George, playing with guitarist Ben Byrd and cellist Christine Gross (“two-fourths” of his band A Crooked Mile) opened with new songs “All in All” and “Damn the Love,” and his gently gravelly voice worked just right in this setting. Closing song “Lover in Me,” with guest trombone, primed the crowd perfectly for Tilbrook’s one-man magic show.

Vulture Hound: We are extremely pleased to be able to share our latest Vulture Hound Guest Playlist from Squeeze legend Glenn Tilbrook!

Published March, 2014

 

Angie La La by Nora Dean

Ukelele Lady by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren

It’s a Rainy Day by Sunshine Girl by Faust

Fold4, Wrap5 by Autechre

Cybernaut by Tonto’s Expanding Head Band

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey by Paul McCartney

The Story of Nathan John by Nine Below Zero

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy by Live by Buddy Rich Big Band

Twenty Five Miles by Edwin Starr

Observatory Crest by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Rewrite by Paul Simon

Bizness by Tune-Yards

Crazy in Love by Beyonce

Soft Spoken Guy by Diane Renay

Two Tickets to Paradise by Brook Benton

Side Saddle by Russ Conway

It’s Time, Please Gentlemen! by Unspecified

Hello by Eminem

Little Derek by Sway

Rocksucker Review:

Glenn Tilbrook - Happy Ending

Published on January 9th, 2014 | Jonny Abrams

 

Positively gleaming: yes, that seems to be the best way to sum up Glenn Tilbrook’s brand new solo album Happy Ending.

It’s a mystical kind of gleam, to be more precise, one supplemented with the abundant good nature and melodic mastery that’s always bubbled up through his work, be it with Squeeze or otherwise.

There’s still a lovely, satisfying timbre to Tilbrook’s voice which, wrapped around the playfully affectionate odes to various people in his life, makes the songwriting sound simple even when it’s really quite sophisticated.

Happy Ending is marked also by exotic instrumentation: an ace twisty string arrangement mirroring the vocal melody on windswept would-be epic “Persephone”, kazoo on the Revolver-evoking “Mud Island”, thumb piano and clattering percussion on “Rupert”…even tooting seaside organ on the joyous singalong that is closing track “Ice Cream”.

“Bongo Bill”, written alongside and featuring the voice of his 10-year-old son Leon, is adorable with its tale of going to watch a football team lose 5-0, sealing the deal with the quietly wonderful line “He had a girl, she didn’t stay / He wondered why it was that way”.

Fine thing it is too, from a musical perspective…but then you could say that for everything here. Would you expect any less from yer man Tilbrook?

Happy Ending will be released February 10th on Quixotic Records. For more information, please visit the official Glenn Tilbrook website.

Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!

Guitar & Bass Magazine Feb 2014

Classic Pop Feb 2014

Q Feb 2014

R2 Magazine Feb 2014

Uncut Magazine Feb 2014

Guitarist Winter 2013

Mojo Mar 2014

Daily Express Dec 2013

Sunday Express February 2014

Daily Express Feb 2014

Daily Mirror Feb 2014

© 2021 Glenn Tilbrook    |    Site by Free Barrabas