Glyn Bailey – Songs From the Old Illawalla

Interesting barely covers the newest offering from Glyn Bailey, and (I think) his backing band, The Many Splendid Things. In fact, he may well have produced an album that actually defies description, but we’ll do our best.

Opening up with the spaghetti Western sounds of ‘Yahoo!’ this reviewer settles back for some kind of Back To The Future 3 experience, almost hearing those wagon wheels creaking down the main street of town as Mexican stand offs take place outside. Full of rollicking banjo sounds, pseudo American tones and the cheerful cries of Yahoo, Yeehaw from the backing vocalists this is an up-beat, toe tapping, hoe down of a track.

Suddenly though the mood changes, to a Bowie –esque tale of doom and electronic beats, ‘Moonwalkers’. This seems to set the tone for the rest of the album, jaunty music and backing vocals belie the dark, at times eerie, tones of the lyrics. Throughout Bailey tells us grim tales of abuse, prostitution and failure. ‘The Doomed Ship Allegory’ is a haunting piece, full of dire warnings and fear of the future, while ‘Kafkaesque World’ takes the rather unlikely viewpoint of a torturer who talks of a world that ‘only the guilty need fear, and only the guilty come here’. ‘The Ballad of Deano’ perhaps showcases the songwriting, and storytelling, skills of Bailey most prolifically. This almost nine minute epic tells the story of an ex American crooner, Deano, who moves East during the Cold War. Perhaps slightly overlong this is still a magnificent effort on Bailey’s part.

Sounding like the cruelly abandoned love child of Bowie and Lennon, Bailey is an unique and interesting vocalist, and stands out from the indie saturated market of today’s unsigned scene. At first the music could be dismissed as spoof, almost comedic, it is only when attention is paid that the serious ideas, and talent of Bailey as a songwriter, comes to the fore. This will perhaps be a battle he will continue to fight but Songs From The Old Illawalla is a brave and enigmatic piece of work from a man who tells dark, but worthwhile stories.

Words- MJ Hardman