Steps - Tears on the Dancefloor

The Guardian 60

(Steps Music LLP)

From kickstarting a teenybopping line-dancing trend with 5, 6, 7, 8 to sampling the Bee Gees, Faye, Lee, H, Claire and Lisa always incorporated an unapologetically kitsch edge to their pop polish. In 2011 the late 90s/early 00s hit-makers reunited for a televised reunion series, which – although undeniably toe-curling TV – served as excellent promo for their Best of collection, which shot to No 1 on the album charts. A Christmas comeback album, Light Up the World, followed, full of schmaltz but light on original material. However, fast forward five years and Steps are back doing what they do best: deliberately unfashionable, bolshy pop. Opener Scared of the Dark begins with the tense strings of an ITV gameshow theme, before launching in to their disco-lite sound of old with a renewed sense of energy. Elsewhere, You Make Me Whole sees the band successfully flirt with the EDM trend that’s dominated the charts since their heyday. Some tracks feel flabby, such as Story of a Heart – a crooning cover of an already crooning number by Abba’s Benny and Björn – but overall this is very much a step in the right direction.

Thu Apr 20 21:15:00 GMT 2017

The Guardian 60

(Steps Music LLP)

There’s something almost moving about returning 90s pop mainstays Steps’ refusal to change. Their fifth album sounds exactly how you remember (or imagine) a Steps album to sound; second-tier Abba choruses (not an insult); heavily signposted, Eurovision-grade key changes, and a sense of fun. Lead single Scared of the Dark is fabulously dramatic; You Make Me Whole is high-energy dance-pop JLo would kill for, while the brilliant Happy encases a devastating breakup in laminated Europop. Occasionally it’s a little too flimsy (I Will Love Again), or a bit too on the nose (No More Tears on the Dancefloor), but overall it’s a nostalgia-coated sugar-rush.

Sun Apr 23 07:00:07 GMT 2017