Glenn has released another solo album, and when it came in the post i was first attracted to the fabulous art work, produced by Rob O Conner, safe hands indeed. In the past i have grappled with Glenn’s solo albums and found it hard to engage in them completely, im not sure where this comes from but in doing so i may have missed some treats. Luckily Squeeze has a new policy of playing songs on stage from our solo repertoire, Black Sheep has been fun to play and to enjoy as well as Without you Here. I loaded Glenn’s new CD onto my car pod and the other night while driving home from a Strypes show i hit play. Junction 15 on the M25. By the time i was on the A23 near Brighton i had almost consumed every track. I love this album, it represents family, the nostalgia of youth and the joy of friendship. Glenn has been released. Its wordy, which i found difficult at first, its clever and natural in its depth of mood, and for the most part its a happy mood. Im not so keen on the political wasp nesting, it dates a record in my view, but he says what he feels with meaning and intelligence. The co writes with his sons are so great, i love hearing Glenn sing with Leon, the melody and the words are so perfect. Check out Bongo Bill. I really like the simplicity of the arrangements and the sound of the record, its attractive and open not tight or claustrophobic. I could go through each track but i do not want to spoil the ride, i think Glenn has hot a new place in his writing, a place you might call home. Chris Braide co writes here and there, i love his writing and think the two of them are like brothers, so close. I really hope it gets a radio listen and people buy into the simple message he is sending, when i first met Glenn he transmitted this open and creative balance of experimentation and simplicity, and here it is again. Its Glenn in a nutshell. Whatever we had in the above picture has completely gone, today we are still either side of the treble clef but with more space between us. Healthy space. Time has made our journey complicated, and we too have created much of that confusion, but from it comes such great things, like this album. The picture was taken in 1984, 29 years ago. In 29 years time i will be 88 years old. I will look back at this and still think that Bongo Bill is my favourite track but i might need stronger lenses than the ones i have now.

Picture by the great Chalkie Davis.