{"id":3060,"date":"2011-08-03T15:07:16","date_gmt":"2011-08-03T22:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3060"},"modified":"2011-08-03T15:07:23","modified_gmt":"2011-08-03T22:07:23","slug":"squeeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/squeeze\/","title":{"rendered":"SQUEEZE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

SQUEEZE<\/h1>\n

Painstakingly recreating the past while looking to the future<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Squeeze\u2019s Glenn Tilbrook\u00a0knows a thing or two about the pressure of expectations. In the late \u201970s, when the London-based band first came onto the scene, he and songwriting partner Chris Difford were lauded as \u201cthe new Lennon and McCartney.\u201d \u201cThat was a tremendous compliment,\u201d Tilbrook says. \u201cBut as a result, our writing got more mannered, more stylized and more self-important. That lasted for\u00a0a couple of years, and then we drifted back to earth. The comparison hasn\u2019t been\u00a0an issue since.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest Squeeze album, Spot the Difference<\/em>, shows why Tilbrook and Difford were placed in such high company. Recorded over the past three years, the disc features new versions of 14 of the duo\u2019s classic tunes\u2014each painstakingly re-made in such a manner that the new recordings sound nearly identical to the originals. Crafting the faithful songs wasn\u2019t easy; Tilbrook jokes that the recording was more difficult than climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, a feat he accomplished last year. \u201cWe started by listening to the original recording, got a drum and bass track and built things from there,\u201d Tilbrook explains. \u201cWith \u2018Up the Junction,\u2019 \u2018Slap and Tickle,\u2019 and \u2018Is That Love,\u2019 I can\u2019t tell the difference between the new recording and the original. On the other hand, the new version of \u2018Black Coffee in Bed\u2019 is better than the old one, because I\u2019m able to sing it with less strain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tilbrook readily admits the main motivation behind the project was to regain control of Squeeze\u2019s back catalog, which he and Difford decades ago signed away in a misguided deal. \u201cMy first choice would be to never look back,\u201d Tilbrook says. \u201cThose records stand as they were, and they are great records. But this is about control. These new masters belong to us. Now, if someone wants to use them for a movie or an ad campaign, we have the choice to say yes or no.\u201d<\/p>\n

And new Squeeze material is on its way\u2014Tilbrook says he would \u201cgo mad\u201d if re-recording the band\u2019s old songs was all he did. The veteran singer-songwriter is intrigued to see how the renewed working relationship between Difford and himself, who haven\u2019t written together since 1998\u2019s Domino<\/em>, will play out. \u201cI think Chris and I can mix and match better now,\u201d he says. \u201cChris has become more confident as a performer, and I\u2019m writing more lyrics, which I used to leave entirely to him. We\u2019ve both changed, and I think our writing will reflect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Russell Hall<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SQUEEZE Painstakingly recreating the past while looking to the future Squeeze\u2019s Glenn Tilbrook\u00a0knows a thing or two about the pressure of expectations. In the late \u201970s, when the London-based band first came onto the scene, he and songwriting partner Chris Difford were lauded as \u201cthe new Lennon and McCartney.\u201d \u201cThat was a tremendous compliment,\u201d Tilbrook […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[623,10156,2286],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3060"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3063,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3060\/revisions\/3063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}