Steps - Under My Skin

Stream Under My Skin here (external link)

Pre-order What The Future Holds here (external link)

I can't believe I've turned into a person that says "back in the day", but back in the day, an album would be previewed by one or two singles (think Summer of Love and Stomp) before dropping onto the shelves of Woolies and being snapped up by adoring fans and curious passers by. Of course, time doesn't stand still and what the future turned out to hold was a fast paced music market place where artists have to keep your attention with teaser tracks and pre-order bonuses dropping onto streaming services everywhere. Hence we get a new Steps song that isn't an official single, but absolutely could have been. Under My Skin is taken from their upcoming sixth studio album, What The Future Holds and delivers a steptacular mid-tempo ballad that is swathed in the type of classic pop instrumentation which never ages. Sinewy percussion lines act like the beating heart of a song all about the all-consuming nature of love; indeed, if you've lain awake a night pondering your romantic dilemmas then you'll know how accurately the dramatic score reflects that. Each moment of the vocals are a dynamic, theatrical powerhouse which only accentuates the simmering emotions being described within the lyrics. There are real goosebump moments when each member's voice is layered on top of each other to create a harmonised, otherworldly effect. A triumph of a song that is just further evidence of how lucky we are to have this group performing 23 years after 5-6-7-8 hit the charts.