‘80s rock band announces new album days after former member’s death

An ‘80s rock band has announced a new album, days after a former member’s death.

Squeeze, the UK group best known for the 1981 hit song “Tempted,” announced they will release a concept album called “Trixies” to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The LP will feature songs written by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford when they were teenagers in 1974, nearly five years before Squeeze’s self-titled debut was released with producer John Cale in 1978.

“We fully committed ourselves to songwriting but this was three or four years before we even got to make our first record. Long story short, these were songs that we just didn’t have enough musical experience to record properly,” Difford said in a press release.

Stereogum reports Tilbrook and Difford said they recently rediscovered the first cassette they made for the “Trixies” songs. They decided to record them and officially release them with bassist Owen Biddle producing.

“The songs that we wrote then astound me. I’m proud of them now, and I’m particularly proud that it was young us that did that,” Tilbrook said. “These are very much the same songs that we wrote then. The only difference is that now I can teach the songs to the rest of the band. Back then, I didn’t even know what the names of the chords were!”

Tilbrook and Difford, who both play guitar and provide vocals, co-founded the New Wave/rock/power-pop band Squeeze in 1974. The lineup has changed many times over the years, with notable members like keyboardist Jools Holland, bassist Harri Kakoulli, drummer Paul Gunn and current percussionist Steve Smith (of Dirty Vegas “Days Go By” fame).

Classic era Squeeze drummer Gilson Lavis died earlier this month at age 74. He joined the band in 1975 and played on all of the band’s first 10 albums, released from 1978 to 1991.

“I’m very sad to report that Gilson Lavis, my dear friend and long-standing drummer, passed away at his home in Lincolnshire last night,” Holland said on Nov. 6. “On behalf of my Orchestra, Squeeze, the many musicians who have worked with and befriended Gilson over the years and all the people he has supported through the AA fellowship, I send our love and sympathy to Nikki and Gilson, his dear wife and son.”

A cause of death was not announced.

Lavis performed on Squeeze’s biggest hits, including “Tempted,” “Up the Junction,” “Cool for Cats,” “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” “Black Coffee in Bed,” “Take Me I’m Yours” and “Hourglass.” “Tempted,” one of the few Squeeze songs with Paul Carrack as lead singer, was also remixed in 1994 for the “Reality Bites” soundtrack and featured in multiple video games, TV shows (like “The Office”) and commercials for Burger King and Heineken.

According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Lavis was fired from Squeeze in 1992 due to issues with alcoholism. He later performed with Holland in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

“I was heartbroken to hear that Gilson had passed away, he gave so much to our music down the years. His playing was the deep thread that kept our verses and choruses firmly on the tapestry of our Squeeze journey,” Difford said in a Nov. 7 tribute. “Off stage in recent years he inspired me in so many ways with his gentle supportive nature, a dear listening friend who introduced me to the sober side of the street. Gilson’s drumming will be heard upstairs in the other place tonight and the angels will dance and sing the dressing room full of stories. I send my love and prayers to his family.”

“Gilson was a hero to me and to all of us when he brought his knowledge to a young band. He absolutely propelled us like rocket fuel,” Tilbrook added. “He was so great and inventive, there is no one else like him. My thoughts are with his family.“

UCR reports Lavis retired from drumming in 2024. He also worked as a painter, making portraits of famous musicians like Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones.

Tilbrook and Difford first started teasing the “Trixies” announcement on social media before Lavis’ death. The new album was officially announced Nov. 13.

“Trixies,” Squeeze’s first studio album since 2017, will be released on March 3, 2026. Fans can preorder it on Amazon and other retailers.

Hear the lead single “Trixies Pt. 1″ and see the album tracklist below:

Squeeze - “Trixies” album tracklisting

1. “What More Can I Say”

2. “You Get The Feeling”

3. “The Place We Call Mars”

4. “Hell On Earth”

5. “The Dancer”

6. “Good Riddance”

7. “Don’t Go Out In the Dark”

8. “Why Don’t You”

9. “Anything But Me”

10. “It’s Over”

11. “The Jaguars”

12. “Trixies Part One”

13. “Trixies Part Two”