Tim Burgess - Typical Music (2LP) - Red/Blue Vinyl

Tim Burgess has never been short on ideas, and Typical Music proves he’s still chasing new corners of pop long after the Madchester fog lifted. The Charlatans frontman has been thriving on his own for a while now, but this 2022 Bella Union release feels like the moment his solo work clicks into a big, generous statement. It is a sprawling double album, the sort you can sink into across a lazy weekend, and it rewards that kind of time with a mix of sparkle, curiosity and genuine warmth.

The title track sets the tone with a bright, synth-led bounce that leans into his fondness for left-of-centre hooks. There’s an ease to his singing here that comes from decades at the front of a band, but the palette is more playful. The synths squiggle, the rhythms nudge you forward, and the choruses arrive like sun through clouds. It’s pop, but pop with odd angles. When “Here Comes The Weekend” rolls in, you get the sense Burgess wants to lift the mood rather than brood. The song feels built for that Friday arvo release, all breezy keys and a melody that sticks.

A lot of that colour comes from his collaboration with Daniel O’Sullivan, a musician with a foot in art-pop and experimental scenes, whose knack for arrangements gives the record its quilted feel. You can hear it in the way little modular textures flicker in the background, or how a bassline switches from rubbery to weightless between verses. Burgess has always had good ears for collaborators and label partners, and Bella Union, founded by Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde, is a fitting home for this kind of adventurous pop. The record carries that label’s welcoming shimmer without losing Burgess’s cheeky grin.

There’s a through-line of positivity and open-heartedness that links Typical Music back to Burgess’s lockdown Listening Party project, where he brought fans and artists together to celebrate albums in real time. That community-minded spirit seems to have fed his songwriting. Even when a lyric tilts introspective, the arrangements stay bright, as if he wants to let you in on the joke rather than hide in the gloom. The longer running time helps too. Across two discs he gives himself permission to try on synth-pop, psych-tinged ballads and motorik pulses, and the sequencing keeps it from feeling overstuffed.

This is also one of those albums that makes immediate sense on wax. The songs breathe with space, and the tonal shifts land more generously when you flip sides and reset your ears. If you’re crate-digging in a Melbourne record store, Typical Music vinyl will jump out with its promise of a big, singable, slightly odd pop journey. And if you prefer to buy Tim Burgess records online, this one is a strong first pick, sitting comfortably alongside the classic Tim Burgess albums on vinyl and, for Charlatans fans, easing the path into his solo world. Plenty of folks who collect vinyl records in Australia will tell you that Burgess’s recent run has been great fun to spin, and this is the prime example.

Critical reception at the time picked up on that spark, with UK outlets noting how much energy Burgess packs into the set and how naturally he leans into synths and bright textures. It isn’t a nostalgia trip. If anything, he sounds emboldened by decades of listening and a fan’s curiosity, the kind of attitude that sends you down rabbit holes and comes back with something catchy to show for it. That spirit gives Typical Music a loose, inviting vibe. Even the smaller moments feel tended to, like he’s tidied the edges but left the paint splashes where they add character.

If you’re weighing formats, Tim Burgess vinyl makes a lot of sense here. The album’s scope fits the physical ritual, and the separation across sides helps the songs pop in clusters. Typical Music vinyl has become one of those regular staff recommendations where I browse, the kind future-you thanks past-you for. Put it on a late Sunday, let the title track and “Here Comes The Weekend” bookend a few new favourites, and you’ll hear a songwriter still in love with the possibilities of pop. That’s the lasting charm. Burgess sounds like a lifer who hasn’t forgotten how exciting a new record can feel, which is exactly why this one belongs on the shelf.