A question that is often asked of the great songwriters is, why do they write the most in enduring material in their early years? Whilst there can be much to enjoy and explore in the mature, later offerings of a legend, how is it that Paul McCartney cannot write another ‘Eleanor Rigby’ today, or Bob Dylan compose another ‘Like A Rolling Stone’? My guess is that those blessed with the gift of musical composition, especially song-based writers, have a lot of quite low hanging fruit in their head during those early years that they are uninhibited about taking and using, especially as they learn the finer points of their craft. Often these unrefined ideas have power in their melodic directness and neophyte vigour that inevitably gets chipped away at as the years advance. A writer in their fifth decade, as ridiculous as it sounds, almost knows too much by then. If McCartney were to dream up a song like ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ today, maybe he would back away from it, not trusting its clarity or over-evolve it to the point where the purity of the idea is lost? I say all this because the new Squeeze album ‘Trixies,’ built, as ever, around the songs of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, possesses a youthful simplicity in spades. But there is a slightly unusual reason for that.

It may feel like a contradiction to use a word like ‘simplicity’ when describing an album that is closer to a concept piece than any band emerging in the punk years would dare to admit at the time. It is a thirteen-track collection of stories all set in a fictional night club called ‘Trixies.’ Many of the classic concept‑album tropes are at least nodded to, if not fully embraced: scene‑setters, breakaway vignettes, and recurring motifs, all shaped to fit the colourful club world the record inhabits. The trick in the tale however is that these songs were written by Difford and Tilbrook way back in 1974, a long time before the classic hit singles this band are still celebrated for. In fact, ‘Trixies’ was the very beginning of the duo’s partnership, written whilst they were both still teenagers. Upon learning this suddenly the simple pop purity of so many songs here makes sense. Yes, they were reaching for a grander scheme, the influence of The Who’s ‘Tommy’ does not need to be examined for fingerprints to know its presence, but the actual writing was at a level of blissful, wide-eyed hunger for the form. These tunes wear Beatles‑style major/minor pop frameworks on their sleeves, displaying them without inhibition. The incredible thing is, at the ages of 19 and 16 respectively, Difford and Tilbrook were already showing a sophistication in their music way beyond their years.

So why is it only now that we are finally getting to hear this newly recorded album? Well Difford puts it down to a lack of technical know-how whilst still three or four years away from their first record. “Long story short” he explains, “these were songs that we just didn’t have enough musical experience to record properly.” Tilbrook feels similarly relieved not only that the songs finally got recorded, but also that they did it as late as this. “These are very much the same songs we wrote then. The only difference is that now I can teach the songs to the rest of the band. Back then, I didn’t even know what the names of the chords were.” That fact alone will stop you in your tracks when coming across a song like the albums second, the scene setting ‘You Get The Feeling.’ It seems like the work of a master, flowing from intro to verse to bridge to chorus with the ease of an artist fluent in theory, not someone who might mistake a treble clef for a cauliflower. No wonder when rediscovering and playing the original cassette some fifty years later, they felt inspired to give the project an overdue revival.

It is revealing just how at home Chris and Glenn were with this form of expression. The popular rock operas of the day are clear in the structure, the curtain raising ‘What More Can I Say’ vividly dropping us in a nightclub scenario at the end of a long-storied night, the sun beginning to rise outside. That the time of day can be sensed in the key changes of the music alone is impressive. The leering punch-drunk lull in the vocal of ‘The Dancer’ suits the sinister texture of the portrait within the lyric. And then there are touches like the countdown that closes ‘The Place We Call Mars,’ the kind of cheesy flourish they would possibly never write today, but one you cannot help admiring for how perfectly it suits the album’s breezy spirit. Another real stand out is the lusting come-on and suggestive thrust that is ‘Why Don’t You.’ The chorus is a pure delight and here more than anywhere the band Squeeze became, the hit makers of ‘Another Nail In My Heart’ and ‘Cool For Cats,’ are in full view and it is absolutely thrilling. So yes, there are obvious stand outs but all the same, this is a record that remains strong from start to finish. After the curtain comes down with parts 1 and 2 of the title track, Squeeze sound so fully energised that you are left wondering if this is the beginning of something more. It would appear the answer is yes, an album of all new songs recorded alongside ‘Trixies’ is already completed and waiting in the wings. Watch this space, on this form it could well be another valuable addition to the bands classy catalogue.

Danny Neill

‘Trixies’ is out now and available for purchase here: https://amzn.to/3NdLDKf