The name Glyn Bailey does not immediately spark a thought of glitter, glam or punk. Often initial impressions can be completely wrong, but in this case I think they were spot-on. Toys from Balsa is a collection of quirky, bluesy soft-pop songs with an over-riding retro brit-pop feel which harvest as much glitz as a funeral procession.

The opening track Sorry She Went Down on Me comes the closest to what most glitzine readers would consider their style of music, with a Bowie / Hanoi Rocks hint about the vocals. Unfortunately from this point onwards the "glitz-factor" falls dramatically with tracks such as East & West and Flowers Everywhere having move of a somber Nick Cave feel about them.
The style range throughout this album is actually quite astonishing with Humanite carrying a medieval, celtic folk feel about it, whilst the story-telling of Missing is almost Springsteen-like. Eventually a bit of cheer surfaces in He Says She Says, which if I closed my eyes I can almost see myself swinging a half-full pint of stout above my head in some quaint Irish pub outside Kilkenny.

At best this cd acts as some good pub music, but it drastically lacks the life and energy in music that we've all become accustomed to. I'm not bashing this cd or the artist, I'm sure there is a market for this music somewhere, but trying to fit this cd into a Glitzine cd collection, is like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.

by Lindsay B.

Visit the Glyn Bailey Website