Review by Americana - March 2007

Curious quintesental English popster clearly a sandwich short of a picnic

Jeez, this is one hell of a strange record.
Imagine Neil Hannon ditching The Divine Comedy in favour of a late seventies Bowie covers band that has just invested all their gig money on a top-of-the-range Casio keyboard. English eccentric I guess you can call him, Glyn Bailey has been on the fringes of the music world for years and Songs From The Illawalla, his second solo record, is the result of a mind that works at ten to the dozen and an imagination that is running riot.

Unscrupulous modern day cowboys, abused paedophile clowns, moon walking, and a surreal journey to a Kafta-esque world where nothing makes sense are only four tracks from the twelve self-penned on offer.

Hopefully you will get the gist that this is a guy who would freak out Robyn Hitchcock if the two ever met for a dandelion and burdock down the local..

Eccentro-pop for sure, there is also a certain elegance here, a quintessential Englishness that permeates these songs that make them familiar and ultimately inviting. Small segments of life experience are pieced together, the characters are each given distinct personality traits to make what is essentially - and on first listen, unexpectedly - a silk purse from a sow’s ear.

If you harbour the day when Burl Ives was the man and Jacques Brel could weave a spell on you with his camp theatricals then in Bailey we may have found an heir to their throne. Fun in a peculiar way.

Date review added: Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Reviewers Rating: 6/10



By Del Day - © 2007 Americana.co.uk