It All Started With The Big Bang.
Settle down with a glass or seven of Canada Dry, press play on this and watch the world go by. The sun is shining, the clouds are floating by and I find myself in good company with Steven Page. Not having heard his solo work before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, unfortunately we tend to pigeonhole people and remember them for THAT ONE song. Steven Page has been famed for the music for The Big Bang Theory and his work with Barenaked Ladies; he will be remembered for those things. It can be negative, but it can also open doors for an artist and give them room to develop and breathe, otherwise they risk a life attributable to that of a hamster on a wheel.
The overall feel here is one of The Beach Boys, a little Motown specifically Isley Brothers (Where Do You Stand?) a little Cuban (Gravity) but unmistakably Steven.
“Everything is fine” says Steve on “Nothing Special” – how I wish that were true but this song with its positive vibe gives us something to believe in, something to hold on to.
We sail seamlessly into track two “Feelgood Summer” and we encounter a lyric that could have been written by Morrissey, a giant amongst songwriters.
“I stopped looking both ways as I crossed the street”.
Next up is the Motown feel of “Where Do You Stand?” and the chilling statement
“Silence equals death” -reproachful words you may think, but the music carries them and elevates them to a grand office where they cannot be trampled on. In fact, this entire album homes in on the negativity that surrounds us, but it is delivered with such a happy, warm and cheery disposition it is easy to immerse yourself in this holiday hideaway. It is your cabin in the woods.
“What I Got From You” is a chorus of conviviality, I love that line
“When your own mother thinks you’re mad, it’s time to go out and find your real dad”
It’s like when the apple fell on Newton’s head, I’ve discovered “Gravity” just hop, skip and jump along to these tunes and they’ll set you up for the day. With “White Noise” I am brought to a halt as I am faced with a truth that many of us suffer.
“I’ve had to bite my tongue, or they’ll send me back where I came from”
A very clever way of addressing an issue that is provocative and inflammatory, you are speaking my language, my friend. It is critical, analytical and atypical of its contemporaries.
The stunning harmonies continue here with “Shooting Star” and more perceptive lyrics
“No matter how you plead, it’s gotta be true”
I laughed much harder than I should’ve with “You F****d Yourself” totally unexpected but very welcome and such humour that transcends all else and encompasses everything in this tiny little ditty.
Canada, O Canada a nation that exports such exquisite music, what can I say?
A memory of Dresden Dolls and “Coin Operated Boy” is rekindled in “Done” just picture an ice skater gliding across the rink, smooth, impassioned, cue standing ovation.
We are brought back down to earth as Mr Page reads out a long list of failures, that would apply to us all.
“Whistling Through The Dark” has a Big Band groove that lifts the song and throws it into the audience which they devour hungrily.
The single “Looking for The Light” closes this captivating record which has systematically strengthened and fortified the needy- it is really a breath of fresh air.
Hats off to you Mr Page.
If you’re looking for Barenaked Ladies, you have taken a wrong turn, but please take a seat and enjoy, this quite fruity little number, try it on for size and you will never take it off.
Azra Pathan
Steven Page – Discipline: Heal Thyself, Pt.Ⅱ out now.