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NEW RELEASE: Squeeze 'Food For Thought' EP
290 Plays2 years ago
A brand-new song and several favorites! In this mini-episode, I review the EP 'Food For Thought.' Currently available for sale as a CD on the band's UK tour, this 6-song selection is now available to stream. While the title song's melody is very bright & poppy, the lyrics get right to the point with the always-pertinent discussion of the need to support food banks for the people who need it the most, both in the UK and the US. Please check out the websites:
https://trusselltrust.org
https://feedingamerica.org
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Cool for Cats with me Amy Hughes.
EP 'Food for Thought' Overview
00:00:10
Speaker
We're inviting you in for black coffee and a chat about our favorite band Squeeds. In this episode, a special mini episode, breaking news, I'm going to talk about the new EP that's just been released, Food for Thought.
00:00:25
Speaker
Let me first off by saying that this EP has been on sale on the Food for Thought Tour over in the UK. It is for charity and if you buy it as a physical CD, the
Charity Contributions
00:00:40
Speaker
the proceeds will go to the Trussell Trust, which is an organization in the UK that helps out with feeding people, food banks. And it's a very important cause. It's one that Squeeze has supported for many years.
00:00:57
Speaker
And I would also like to say that even though it's a little tough for us in the U.S., food shortages, things like that are still very, very prevalent here in the United States.
Theme and Song Analysis
00:01:14
Speaker
So, I am going to also include a link on the website, on the Anchor website, and in my social media platforms for the Trussell Trust. If you are in the UK and if you are in the US,
00:01:32
Speaker
I will also put a link up for Feeding America, which is a fantastic charity. Again, they do also do fantastic work with everybody here in the United States to help those in need, those who need to have food on the table
00:01:52
Speaker
not to make any choices for themselves except to be able to feed America. So I will also put that up. If you can make donation, check it out. I would appreciate it. So, on to the EP. It's great. The first thing is the new song, Food for Thought.
00:02:10
Speaker
And from these ears, it's fantastic. It is a nice bright poppy melody, which in typical squeeze tradition has the very sort of pointed dark lyrics, which tells a story essentially of what we're talking about, which is the food shortage. The reasons why they are there in the UK are pretty much the same reasons why they're here in the US.
00:02:39
Speaker
I would like to make a shout out to one of the people on the Facebook group who correctly pointed out that the intro for this song is a demo that Glenn Tilbrook did back in the day. And they use essentially that for the intro. So I would like to thank you, Jonathan Paul, for doing that.
Song Comparisons
00:03:05
Speaker
So anyway, it's a very good song. It has a lot to say. I would pay a lot of attention to those lyrics because the melody can fool you. The band sounds terrific. This is the current band. This is obviously Glenn and Chris. We have Simon Hansen on drums. We have Owen Biddle on bass guitar. He actually mixed this song. We have Steven Smith. We have
00:03:32
Speaker
Steven Large, Lord Large, and we have Melvin Duffy. So kudos to everybody for getting this song together. It's fantastic. The two other sort of songs that are with the current lineup are the very first dance, which is a redo of 1982's song from Sweets from a Stranger.
00:03:54
Speaker
I will say that Chris and Glenn's vocals are much more upfront and this song is less atmospheric than the original. The original I felt was kind of eerie and a little haunting considering the subject matter.
00:04:10
Speaker
And so this song, not so much stripped down, but a little bit stripped down. And I would say that the vocalization between Chris and Glenn is just outstanding. It's again, almost all of these tracks are just classic squeeze. So that was a very nice surprise to have it a little bit more, a little bit more swing to it is what I would call it. I think that's courtesy of Simon. So very, very well done.
00:04:39
Speaker
The third song that's from the studio of the current lineup is Electric Trains from 1995's Ridiculous.
00:04:47
Speaker
This is heartier sounding and pleasantly Chris and Glenn are singing together on the intro verses. Usually you would remember that the original only had Glenn as starting it off. And I would say that this again is a much heartier song probably due to some of the technology
00:05:10
Speaker
and the fact that we're all in a different space at this point with the band that was recording it to the band
Live Track Reviews
00:05:17
Speaker
today. So I quite liked it. It's a favorite. It's got some very reminiscent, nostalgic lyrics from Chris, one of the songs that's very close to him. So again, fantastic sounding. Again, nice that Chris and Glenn are doing their octave apart vocals.
00:05:36
Speaker
The three remaining tracks on this EP are live tracks from 2019 at Liverpool's Philharmonic. The first one is in Quintessence, which is essentially Chris and Glenn with an acoustic and electric guitar. Of course, they go through that at whip smart speed, very pointed, but again, very clear, very right to it. So it's essentially the two of them singing and playing.
00:06:03
Speaker
Slap and Tickle, which has been an audience favorite. I've enjoyed it much in every set list that I have seen and of course seeing them live. A little edgier than the original, again, due to probably the atmosphere in a live situation. Again, it starts off with Chris and Glenn kind of doing it sort of semi-acoustically, acoustic guitar, electric guitar.
00:06:29
Speaker
Then the band kicks in. This is the band lineup where Yolanda was on the bass guitar. But it's great. Three minutes into this thing, it just really starts to kick. And I really appreciate that. Glenn's solo in this is just off the charts. It's totally manic. And of course, we all appreciate Lord Large with his piano work. It's just incredible.
00:06:56
Speaker
So Slap and Tickle, audience favorite. I'm glad it's on here as a live track.
Episode Wrap-up
00:07:01
Speaker
The last one is The Day I Get Home, which is from 1991's play. The album overall at that time was very sort of dark. There are a lot of things going on in the personal lives, both Chris and Glenn, but I really appreciated that a song like this has been included with the theme of the Food for Thought tour.
00:07:19
Speaker
coming from 2019. It's still relevant. It's wonderful. It's pretty much a note for note representation of the original, but very, very beautiful. So again, this is a nice thing to happen, of course, for us to be able to hear new material, the Food for Thoughts song,
00:07:40
Speaker
Again, pay close attention to the lyrics. It's very important. And since this is being released on November 4th, I would like to say, and I hope everybody does at the gig tonight at Sheffield City Hall, happy birthday, Chris. We'll see you all soon. Thanks a lot. Bye-bye.