Regular Columnists

Artist: David Steele
Album: Underneath the Ice
CD Review: David Steele writes and performs good pop songs. In the David Bowie vein, they are more individual to the singer than trying to hitch onto mainstream sleeves and get band-covered all over the place. So of course, you’ve gotta like the guy & the voice to love the songs. Did I just waste a whole paragraph? Isn’t that true for everyone? Oh well.

I admire David’s skill as a pop/soft rock artist more than as a lyricist. The opening ‘Wings To Fly’ has some pretty ordinary thoughts, but the way the music grafts on tends to erase any doubts and eases you right in to ‘If you still have mercy in your heard so full of pain / And if you’re not too busy being down / If you have a doorway in your cellar full of souls / Let’s beat upon the walls and break them down.’

His music and personality also show a bit of Sting, when winging through the bluesy, introspective world of ‘Ghost.’ Piano (probably keyboard) tinkling as the synth backdrop swirls slowly like a, well, ghost. ‘A voice from down the lane, a whisper / footsteps in the rain, I hear / a stranger walked into my head, made / residence: I have a friend.’

You’re right, reader, some of the lyrics are quite good: compact, hip, edged with poetry energy. This is where David really shines. The cd is doing well in the UK so far. Hope it does the same here.

www.davidsteele.fm