Did you know that Steps not only saved pop in 2017, but are now continuing to do so?
After absolutely nailing it with “Scared of the Dark” last month — an against-the-odds triumph for a campy bubblegum pop troupe celebrating their 20th anniversary — Lee, H, Claire, Faye and Lisa Fucking Scott-Lee return this week with the second offering from Tears on the Dancefloor: “You Make My Hole” “You Make Me Whole” — and the group’s now officially two for two.
Bye bye, moody, self-serious downtempo dirges du jour! Au revoir, chorus-less trop-pop bops!
Once again vocally dominated by the trio of ladies (just stand still right there and look pretty, Lee — although that “you make me, you make me” bridge is quite sexy), “You Make Me Whole” kicks off with a gorgeously atmospheric intro recalling Gwen Stefani‘s “Early Winter” before transforming into a surging, blissfully nostalgic Euro-bop, squeezing in somewhere nicely between Cascada, September, Dannii and Kylie Minogue and The Saturdays. (No coincidence on the latter comparison — The Alias, frequent Sats collaborators, executive produced Tears.)
https://twitter.com/darrenhayes/status/847290072596488193
Darren Hayes excitedly teased that Tears is their very own Confessions On A Dance Floor. And so far, it sounds like he’s right.
And because LSL and company are such a giving crew, they’ve also suppled an acoustic version (!) of “Scared Of The Dark” set to a soft piano melody on this very same evening, which is absolutely lovely. Claire‘s voice!
It really doesn’t matter if Steps’ brand of escapist, earnest dance-pop isn’t in vogue at the moment in a sea of reductive Chainsmokers trend-chasers on the radio.
It’s so boldly uncool, it’s actually cool. Deal with it.
