It is easy to become excited by a Glenn Tilbrook album, not least because it is such a rarity these days, considering the strength of his vocal performances of the 1970s to 1990s, as the lead singer with power-popsters Squeeze. His voice is a marvellous echo of that era and has always been regarded as thoroughly unique and somehow mellifluously glorious.

As great live as recorded, Tilbrook possesses a contagious sense of humour that was not always evident in Squeeze recordings, although, fortunately, some of that superb band’s musings remain as signposts to his linguistic brilliance, engaging sauciness and gargantuan creative talent. Not one of the fourteen tracks on this new album from Tilbrook and friends, aka ‘The Fluffers’, escapes his primary attentions, both as muso and scribe, and, while Chris Difford was his former co-conspirator (and the lyricist with Squeeze), it is clear that Tilbrook is more than capable of displaying his own consummate vocal talents and undoubted command of language to perfection in Pandemonium Ensues.

The London-born and bred artist may be in his 53rd year but there are no signs of any reduction in his energy or capabilities. Incidentally, a ‘fluffer’ is the person employed to ensure that male members of porn films are maintained in a state of excitement. You may draw your own conclusions here! This gorgeous album is like a showpiece for Tilbrook’s skills and his voice (that is just part of its vitality) remains as alluring as at any time in the past. Although a ‘debut’ for this line-up, it is far from such a thing for Tilbrook, whose live career has scarcely stopped since he started performing in the 1970s. One of these days, he will be recognised for the outstanding contribution he has made to modern pop music.

There is not one of the 14 tracks on this album is anything less than judiciously crafted, so I am not going to dissect any of the listing but I do urge lovers of high-quality popular music to perform a small amount of ‘fluffing’ on themselves and indulge in the richness of this impeccably produced offering. This is fantastic pop at its very best, at a time that the industry is quite devoid of such qualities.

Iain Robertson