Debbie Gibson - One Step Closer

Buy-stream-adore One Step Closer here (external link)

Everything old is new again! The OG pop princess, Debbie Gibson, has been a regular performer at the pop circus for over 30 years - yet her upcoming album, The Body Remembers, is her first full album of original material since 2001. In the mean time, Debbie has been living out her childhood dreams on stage, screen and beyond. Musicals, movies, tours and new music have been a constant every year for 2 decades as Debbie established herself as a premier league entertainer. It really feels like the culmination of those experiences is encapsulated in the first sneak peek into the album via her glorious new single One Step Closer. Written by Debbie (alongside DJ Tracy Young who is also on production duties with Sean Thomas), it is a glittering dance anthem designed to help you glow up and embrace the how bad times can elevate us to experiences that were only in our dreams. Tribal beats, pulsing percussion and exhilarating keyboard riffs provide the groove whilst thoughtfully placed beat drops elevate the chorus so you are flying past seventh heaven and are on your way to cloud nine.

It is those beat drop/crescendo moments that are really clever - so in sync with the lyrics. Debbie sings of a relationship where she was helplessly in love but all the time the other person felt there was no more rhyme. When she describes these feelings in the verses, her voice taps into that gorgeous lower register of hers, giving the words that reflective realisation that comes with life's revelations. Because here's the kicker - a life lesson that will save you thousands of $$ in therapy bills: learn from love, however it ends, and believe that you can fly on your own because when you put love out into the world it will always - always - come back. And boy is Debbie ready to shake her love again. Sure there is rumination on the experience but the verses always accelerate not only with Debbie's voice climbing the register but with the emphasis on the keyboard chords that accompany here. It helps the inspirational chorus explode in a cascade of healing glitter. Similar the bridge ends with a rave-infused build up with just the briefest of pauses before she raises the roof one more time with the titular refrain.

It is a really smart choice for a first single from a project - like Shania Twain's Life's About To Get Good or Cher's Believe, it conveys a life experience with concise wisdom that few of us are as eloquent in. Wrapping it in sing-along lyrics and hook that just won't quit makes it utterly celebratory. Debbie is exactly where she wants to be and One Step Closer helps you dance right alongside her, like a communal and jubilant catharsis. The video is a radiant visualisation of this with Debbie giving full on iconic 50s film star diva in the verses and letting herself be an electric youth again in the choruses (with some trademark Debbie Gibson cheeky wit thrown in for good measure)! The neon nods to the Electric Youth era are a thrill of any long time or new found Debhead. And that is what is so intriguing about this new chapter - it has shades of the past but with an eye firmly on the future. Play it loud and proud on your girls night out and remember - too much love is NEVER enough.