Steve Hill is most commonly known, over here at least, as a one man band who plays guitar and drums as well as ‘effects’ live onstage. This album sees him taking a slightly different tack with the addition of a horn section, The Devil Horns, and a drummer, in this case the mighty Wayne Proctor (A.A. Williams, Oli Brown, King King, Ben Poole) who plays drums on six tracks and who also mixed and mastered it all.
I’ve been a fan of Steve Hill for a good few years now but this is definitely the most mature and polished album he’s released to date. It was due for release before covid but Hill put it on hold - "I had a version finished right before the pandemic started,” says Steve. “It was slated for release in April 2020. There was no point in releasing it then, so I decided to wait. The sad context of the pandemic resulted in additional time for me to offer my fans the album I’m sure will meet their expectations for my 25th anniversary as a recording artist. I am proud of the work. Ultimately, the results that we collectively achieved with the album, ended up reflecting both maturity and introspection.” He used the time to build up the songs and I really was blown away by what is a superb album, whatever the circumstances.
The first single from the album ‘Everything You Got’ sums up all of the things that are good about this album – The intro from the horns leading into the power packed drums and horn riff and a song that is just about living life, no matter what’s happening.
Elsewhere, he touches on the pandemic, people in his life – real and imaginary – and the ‘Post Truth’ era of Trump and his ilk. It’s great hearing Hill playing with backing musicians and actually allowing his songwriting and skills to come out and not be masked by the ‘One man band’ tag.
A very good album and one that marks a great point in his long career.