By
Rob Jones
Subject: Squeeze announce Join The Dots UK tour for autumn 2017 and are working on a new album
Support comes from cult rhythm & blues act Nine Below Zero
Tickets on general sale on Friday 9th December – 9am
www.gigsandtours.com<http://
South-London legends Squeeze have announced an extensive run of UK dates kicking off on Oct 7th 2017 at Birmingham Symphony Hall and ending on Nov 6th 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall. This follows the success of their North American tour in 2016 and the incredible reception to their latest album Cradle To The Grave. The band are currently working on a new album for 2017.
“Difford and Tilbrook deliver a rousing reminder of their talent for tuneful and touching glimpses of everyday life. ****” – Live review, The Guardian
“A crowd on their feet sang back new songs as though they were decades-old classics. *****” – Live review, The Times
Chris Difford tells us “I’m excited to say Squeeze are planning a new album release and a UK tour for 2017. As I put pencil to paper to write some ideas for the next album I have to say how confident I am about our bands future. I’m excited that Nine Below Zero are opening up for us as they’re a band I have a huge amount of respect for. At last something to look forward to in 2017!”
Glenn Tilbrook adds “following on from our work in 2015 and 2016 which saw us scale new heights as a band, we’re working on the first new collection of Squeeze songs
since 2015’s ‘Cradle To The Grave’. We will be honoured to welcome our old chums
Nine Below Zero as support. Their new album of covers, ’13 Shades Of Blue’ is one of
my favourite albums of this year.”
The band has long been a captivating live act, and this year triumphed on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
As well as a vast catalogue including hits such as ‘Cool For Cats’, ‘Up The Junction’ and ‘Tempted’, they also have Cradle To The Grave to draw on, their first collection of new tracks since 1998. This album marked the complete and, frankly, triumphant
reintegration of the masterful songwriting axis of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, in a beautifully-observed series of fond vignettes about childhood, growing up and the
absurdities of the ride through life we’re all on. The live band now features a six-piece
line up with Chris and Glenn joined by Simon Hanson (drums), Lucy Shaw (bass),
Stephen Large (keyboards) and Melvin Duffy (guitar and various instruments).
The album was written as a soundtrack to Danny Baker’s BBC TV sitcom ‘Cradle To Grave’ which starred Peter Kay. The lyrics were based on his autobiography about
growing up in South London in the 1970s ‘Going To Sea In A Sieve’, which Chris and
Glenn could relate to from their own experiences.
The group first formed in 1973, shortly after Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook had begun their songwriting partnership, brought together by an ad in a sweetshop
window. By 1977 they had made their recording debut and enjoyed a string of hits
which lasted until 1982, the maturity of their songs outliving their initial burst of chart activity on the back of New Wave. Over the years there have been solo careers and
occasional separations, but the Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriting duo Chris
and Glenn reunited nine years ago to relaunch Squeeze and have been touring, writing
and recording together since.
Support on the tour comes from Nine Below Zero. Since their formation in 1977 the band have carved out a strong reputation as a live band, with The Crack magazine
describing them as “one of the best blues bands in the country”. Their latest album 13
Shades Of Blue (2016) features a horn section, keyboards, violin and backing
vocalists which Get Ready To Rock see as “them evolving into a full blown big band who tackle the kind of soulful, funk and blues related influences that have made them an enduring and cutting edge band”.
Look out for a South Wales date @
Tuesday 10th October – St David’s Hall, Cardiff
