6 of the best - Steve Anderson

Read 6 of the best (Steve Anderson) from 2015 here

Last year I started a new annual review of people whose music had proliferated my life throughout the year, but whose names did not appear on the (metaphorical) record sleeves of the artists who sang and performed their songs. Consider this a salute to the talented folk who pour their heart and souls into creative artistry but don't always get the recognition they deserve. Steve Anderson is one such person whose musical contributions have meant more to me this year than I can possibly say. He treats composition and performance with the integrity and respect it deserves, ensuring the artists he works with have the absolute highest quality, magical scores and lyrics to embrace. His regular collaborators (Cliff Masterson, Terry Ronald - don't think I didn't spy your magnificence this year; I did) are equally as gifted in writing brand new songs and re-imagining old favourites with a glittering shimmy that is quite awe-inspiring. Here are just six of the songs that soothed my soul and lifted my spirits this year...

06 ~ Alison Jiear, Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone: I didn't know when I started the year that I would need this hymn but, through turbulent political times, I found myself returning to it more and more. The music starts as a simple duet between Alison and elegant piano chords. It gives the effect of making the vast lyrics seem so personal and intimate, particularly when the hushed strings swirl in with flawless ease, like mist rolling across the first morning dew. The two songs are as one, and this is true of the symbiotic relationship between Alison’s mesmerising singing and the instrumental score. They weave together with a humbling beauty, a new holy trinity of orchestra, keyboard and vocal. When the choir joins in, it’s a jawdropping moment that near bought a tear to my eye – a strengthening hand to provide me with succour when I’m down, an edifying anthemic cry to calm troubled waters. It is an entirely beautiful four minutes of music that transcends beliefs to instead be a delicate but essential caress to all who seek it out.

05 ~ Abi Hudson, Fragile Around You: Co-written by Steve Anderson and Terry Ronald, Fragile About You is about the type of relationship where you are fearful of letting the other person in due to hurtful experiences in your past. It is a heartbreaking situation to be in, yet Abi brings it to life with an insightful sincerity and passionate, cathartic unleashing of her inner feelings. She begins with a textured choir-like harmony that then underscores her haunting vocal, accentuating the emotional damage she sings of. Just before the first chorus, an emboldened beat drops and a wall of sound envelops the song - swirling percussion, elegiac strings and those omnipresent backing vocals (their consistency throughout the song serve as a reminder of the turmoil raging within all of us when faced with feelings that threaten to change our lives - if only we let them). There is a wildness to the track that brings to mind the very best of Kate Bush - the music, a burgeoning storm of sentiment that Abi masterfully commands by guiding the melody at all times.

04 ~ Lucy Kane, Love Him Anyway: Set to an infectious finger clicking beat with sumptuous joyous piano chords, Lucy sings with vibrant glee of her love for a fella that those close to her don't approve of. Effusive percussion not only accentuates the danceable nature of the keyboard but also underscores the resolve in Lucy's vocal. It is the perfect blend of sixties girl group melody with 90s Cathy Dennis realness - with a contemporary veneer that will have even the most reluctant of groovers shimmying to the dancefloor. Throw in a middle 8 that sends a dopamine rush of epic proportions to your brain (thanks to a coalition of cascading music and vocal that feels like an aural hug) and you have pop perfection. Ultimately, the whole 3 minutes are a sensational treat of live instruments providing euphoric uptempo majesty.

03 ~ Susan Boyle, Like A Prayer: Steve and Cliff worked with Susan to create an album of Christmas sounding songs, none of which were actually seasonally based (ensuring the majesty of their work lasted long beyond the most wonderful time of the year). The audaciousness of covering a Madonna classic paid off. Transformed from undeniable pop stomper to humble prayer, it is clear that there is an innate understanding of the lyrics that has helped strip this song to the foundation and re-build it as something completely different. In the context of the Christmas story, this could be Mary singing to Joseph through any moments of doubt. Susan embodies the strength and humility required to sing this kind of invocation, her mellifluous tonality wrapped in sonorous salvation of the choir. It becomes it's own type of religious experience and is able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Madonna's version because of it. Innovative, ingenius, evocative. I stand utterly gobsmacked at it's genius.

02 ~ Harriet, Unlove You: With sublime grace and gentility, the song earnestly captures the sentiments that are entrenched in our inner being when a relationship falls apart yet there is still love at the core of it. Acrimonious break ups are difficult enough to deal with but when the heart still pines, it feels so much more devastating. With just piano accompaniment, Harriet delivers a masterclass in how less is very much more, guiding the listener through the gamut of emotions that play turmoil within her. It reminds me of the scene in Love, Actually where Emma Thompson realises Alan Rickman has been a philandering cad, and smooths the bed down whilst listening to Joni Mitchell. There is a dignity in that scene that is mirrored within this song - often, in today's society, emotions are apparently best expressed through histrionics on Jeremy Kyle, or through vicious barbs that are just the slinger of them "keeping it real". The impact is far more heavy when it is delivered with quiet class, a desolating denouement. "My own songs they make me cry/because every one was about you" is a lyric that will stay with me and bring a tear to my eye for many years to come. Speechless.

01 ~ Kylie & Dannii, Still Disco To Me (Steve Anderson Extended Disco Mix): Steve Anderson is the master of making Christmas last the whole year round (see the aforementioned Susan Boyle song). The transformation of It's Still Christmas To Me (from Kylie Christmas) into a disco extravaganza kept the magic of Kylie's Christmas project fizzing all year long. at least 7 times as amazing as when Love Is All Around was changed to Christmas Is All Around (only reversed), and still capturing the essence of Studio 54. You can almost envisage Liza Minelli quaffing champagne at the VIP table whilst Gloria Gaynor bumps and hustles her way across the dancefloor to the sound of the O'Jays (remember the O'Jays?!). Festive version or year round Pride classic, it's a sizzling slice of disco pie that will make you glad from head to (mistle)toe). Sisters are clearly doing it for themselves as the song starts with the new dancefloor proclamation and instantly shimmies into the funky beat whilst a whirling, swirling dervish of strings accelerate this loving tribute to a time when it was easy to find the music to get down and boogie. And boogie along to this you will - not just because it recreates every single signature sound from every 70s dancefloor smash that you know and love, but also because Kylie and Dannii sound luminous together with the sheer joy of singing a song so deliriously wild and stimulating. If it sounds indubitably fun and frivolous, it's because it IS fun and frivolous - but let it be known that there is really smart songwriting and production behind this song that unveils this sense of heady freedom. And it's all powered by the gleeful, enthusiastic singing from the Minogue sisters. The winners of Christmas in March, June and September - and showing that winners really do take it all. That extended disco mix from Steve? What the word LUSH was invented for :)

Top 25 songs of the week:

25 ~ Olly Murs, Grow Up
24 ~ Jakil, Unforgiven (NE)
23 ~ The Heydaze, Hurt Like Hell
22 ~ Sean Smith, Turn Me On
21 ~ Little Mix, Shout Out To My Ex
20 ~ Jakil, Truth Is
19 ~ Paul Varney, Kiss and Make Up
18 ~ Louisa Johnson, So Good
17 ~ Robbie Williams, Party Like A Russian
16 ~ Tom Chaplin, Hardened Heart
15 ~ Little Mix, Touch
14 ~ Pet Shop Boys, Say It To Me
13 ~ DNCE, Body Moves
12 ~ Roxette, Why Don't You Bring Me Flowers?
11 ~ Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Crystallise
10 ~ Maroon 5, Don't Wanna Know
09 ~ Bright Light x2, Little Bit
08 ~ X&Y, Secrets
07 ~ Fitz & The Tantrums, Roll Up
06 ~ Michael Buble, I Believe In You
05 ~ Vaults, One Day I'll Fly Away
04 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, Glorious
03 ~ Olly Murs, Years and Years
02 ~ Kylie Minogue, Everybody's Free
01 ~ Robbie Williams, Love My Life (1 week)