Glenn Tilbrook
Album: Happy Ending
Label: Quixotic
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.glenntilbrook.com

If you had to sum Glenn Tilbrook albums up in three words then it's simply people and places. Around those two concepts he has consistently crafted fine pop songs and has done since his days in Squeeze. In some ways buying a Glenn Tilbrook album is like buying a slice of a city suburb and whilst ultimately it might not be one where you end up wanting to live, it is one that you feel richer for having visited.

"Happy Ending" is populated with characters, from the relative sophistication of the opening track "Ray" to the footballesque chant of "Ice Cream" a song that can't help but bring a wry smile to your lips and one that ultimately fulfils the naming of the album.

I'm sure that if you know Glenn Tilbrook long enough, you'll end up in his songs somewhere, though he may change your name to protect the innocent/guilty, delete as appropriate. The thing is you probably know most of the people in Glenn's songs, the ups and downs they are going through, either directly or through other people around you. Tilbrook's real talent is being able to write songs about those people and/or himself without turning you into a voyeur.

In someways "Happy Ending" feels like a pop opera, at the very list a series of vignettes that engage you in a series of conversations, one sided conversations admittedly, ones that may have moved on before you manage to say yes, but, but after all he gets to dictate those points.

There are some real hard hitting songs on the album, "Rupert" being a good example, where Tilbrook gets to express some of our indignation, but also gets to point out that at the end of the day even if the protagonists do end up going to jail, the establishment will just replace them, change the rules and move on. (Have you checked out the new rules on lobbying, Glenn has and appeared to have concluded they won't hit the lobbyists as hard as the people.)

There's a few gimmicks on the album, something I'm not a fan of, but you take your chances on those things, but aside from that, "Happy Ending" sees Glenn Tilbrook at his acerbic best and the album is great expression of that.

Neil King