Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

It’s been a few years --- five actually --- since we’ve had a proper solo project of original work from Squeeze stalwart Chris Difford. Those who have patiently waited will find that THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIS is more than adequate compensation, perfect in every way from beginning to end.

Difford somehow achieves a warm, encompassing sound on THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIS --- one that audiophiles have felt is all but gone from CD pressings --- and that, with Difford’s trademark low-key, instantly recognizable vocals provide a unifying undercurrent which flows through and across each of the project’s thirteen tracks. The music cuts across genres, evoking everything from British pubs (“Battersea Boys”) to French Quarter dives (“Never Coming Back”) to southern honky-tonks (“Good Life”) to…well, Squeeze (“Fat As A Fiddle”). Difford’s lyrical strengths are in heavy evidence throughout. THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIS is a very personal project, yet Difford takes special care to explore common themes, rather than to make the work so introspective as to render it incomprehensible. His target audience is those who are settled, comfortably or not, in middle age, whose parents have perhaps passed on, for worse (“My Mother’s Handbag”) or better (“Broken Family”) and who are dealing with issues such as infidelity (the unique “The Other Man In My Life”) or --- my stars and garters --- vasectomy reversal (“Reverso”). The instrumentation perfectly supplements, rather than supplants, Difford’s vocals, which are at the front of the mix, buoying his voice while providing plenty of surprises, such as a clarinet solo on “Julian and Sandy” and the quiet presence of a steel guitar on several of the songs. Difford is going gently into middle age; we’re not talking Iggy Pop here, and the closest that he gets to truly pulse-racing is on “Fat As A Fiddle.” He’s not going gently, either, however; as “The Party’s Over” indicates, each day a new party begins, and Difford is planning to attend.

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIS is a beautiful piece of work, instantly accessible, both unique and familiar on every track. While long-time fans of Difford and Squeeze will find much to love here, those who have never heard the work of either will have their ears --- and hearts --- opened. Highly recommended.