Although hailed as the new Lennon and McCartney back in their prime, thanks to a succession of sublime, melodic and poptastic new wave-type tunes, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook never quite managed to achieve super stardom, despite the big early promise of 'Up The Junction’ and 'Cool for Cats', both number two hits. Simply put, their pop was a little too clever and ever-so-slightly offbeat, and they lacked the everyman universality of, say, The Beatles. Indeed, their best performing album in that initial late 70s-late 90s period reached just number 14.

Difford, in particular, had been itching for some kind of reunion of sorts if only to help pay the bills and, in 2007, it duly happened. An obvious cash generator for the next few years, a fuse was finally lit under the band when they got involved in childhood friend Danny Baker's Cradle to the Grave TV project. In 2015 Squeeze suddenly got into the papers again. Not only for producing perhaps their best ever album (also called Cradle to the Grave), but for being naughty little scamps when they mischievously changed the lyrics to the title track when performing live on the Andrew Marr Show, with the then Prime Minister David Cameron just inches away, on his lonesome on the interview sofa. It was a middle-aged punk moment, but brilliant all the same. As was the album which extraordinarily became their highest ever chart placing.

So, with their songwriting mojo back in place, Difford and Tilbrook haven't taken long in trying to extend their winning streak with The Knowledge. While Cradle to the Grave was a collection of songs that referenced their lives from birth to the here and now, The Knowledge is loosely themed mainly around just the here and now: a collection of contemporary subject songs that speak of getting older, wiser, but often more pissed off, with the state of the NHS, the cost of living and more. Following that infamous TV performance, Tilbrook in particular has gotten the bit between his teeth in trying to turn news items of the day into song. Such as the state of the NHS ('A&E'), young and abused footballers ('Final Score'), the cost of living ('Rough Ride'), and er, erectile dysfunction ('Please Be Upstanding'). While these are all commendable subjects, in the form of a pop song, the incongruity of the music (a mix of country-rock, soul, and baroque-pop flavours) somewhat diffuses the punch that could have been more effective. Too often, Tilbrook's lyrics come across as all-too-obvious news reports we have already heard. For example: "I took my wife to the A&E and it took all night just to be seen / How do they cope, it’s hard to know, with violent men who hurl abuse / It wouldn’t hurt to give it some more. It’s got to be something worth fighting for". Of course it is. Or how about: “Affordable housing, and unattainable dreams. There’s nothing for you here, why don’t you move away / My children are working all hours, they want to live in this city we love", goes 'A Rough Ride', about the cost of living in Tilbrook's home city of London, with a decidedly incongruous disco-funk groove alongside, and occasional outbursts of intense operatic singing. Go figure!

What we are also missing is Difford's deep register. For some reason, it's largely reserved for backing vocals, or at the most, singing in unison with the classic soul voice of Tilbrook. It's a shame. Because on the jaunty rhythm'n'blues-meets-Chas & Dave final track 'Two Forks' – easily one of the best here – Difford and Tilbrook sing as equal partners (this song is essentially about them and their relationship to each other). As they do on the nostalgic and yearning baroque country-rock of 'Patchouli'; again a song that has poetry at its heart, rather than dry socio-political observations.

Difford's hand in the lyric writing is obvious with these moments, songs that are more in keeping with the classic Squeeze output, including that which appeared on Cradle to the Grave; there's a wryness, surreality, and also a gentle everyday observational quality to his output. It's there for instance, on 'Albatross', which along with a strange incensed-fuelled psychedelic-folk hybrid, looks at an ageing vinyl collector, one who wishes he were back in the heyday of the late 60s and early 70s, frugging in real time to Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac (hence the title of the song). The opening track, 'Innocence in Paradise', is also a look back, to a childhood where innocence reigned supreme, but how it is quickly over. Twanging guitars and haunted vibes this time work to compliment the nostalgic rear-view remembrance, of these deeply formative, working class South-East London roots, of both Difford and Tilbrook: "The innocence of childhood, should remain throughout my life".

Despite the misgivings about some of the unlikely subject matter, and the surface mismatch of the music with the content of many of these songs, The Knowledge is a remarkable achievement for a band that have been going for 40 years and, in particular, the ongoing relationship (which has often been far from harmonious) between Difford and Tilbrook. They have tested their resolve, lasted the course, and continue to make some interesting, thoughtful and vibrant pop music.

Jeff Hemmings

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