Steve Hill is a phenomenon. What do you think a solo artist should sound like? Maybe a weather-beaten folkie? A social commentator like Billy Bragg? Perhaps one of those Joseph Arthurs types, all effects, loops, and wizardry?
I’ll see all that and raise you the rawest blues there is. A force of nature. And an absolutely glorious songwriter.
I don’t know how he does it. What’s more, I couldn’t care less. I’m sticking to my belief that he found Robert Johnson’s solo at a car boot sale organised by Beelzebub himself and imbibed it whole.
I mean, how else, in all good conscience, do you explain the primal sounds on the title track? “This rockin’ and rollin’ got me hanging on a string,” he sings. It’s a guitar string. I’m certain of it.
As if to back up my theory that the devil himself has some hand in all of this, “Devil’s Handyman” is as dark and nightmarish as can be. When the opening line sneers, “Well, buddy, good to see you again. I got a feeling we could be best friends,” then even Alice Cooper himself is running scared.
To be serious for a second, “Show Ya” is the perfect example of what he does. Everything here comes from within, but I’ll wager this one comes from deep. Charting the journey from air guitar-playing bullied nerd to six-string slinger chewed up by the record industry, the energy is anger, the solo is primal – and there are very few better.
Before writing this review, I was on Twitter (I’m not calling it X, Elon, get stuffed). It’s the only social media I am on, and it’s hard not to agree with Hill’s assertion here that 2024 is broken. There are two versions of “World Gone Insane” here. Both are brilliant in their own way. The near seven-minute one bubbles with punk energy, the other – which acts as the last song, has a greater confusion.
It’s “Maggie,” though, that possibly sums him up better than any other track. A love song. A sleazy one. And it had been going for a couple of minutes before it hit me: “Maggie” is his guitar. Never having played an instrument, I can’t speak of the bond between a man and his instrument, but Hill will leave you in no doubt.
“You Know Who” slows it down but doesn’t skimp on the anger before he absolutely thunders once more on “Turned To Dust,” even if the lyrics are a little more tender.
The eighth and last song on the main album is a cover of The Doors’ “When The Music’s Over.” If you didn’t know it was a Doors song, then you’d think it was just Steve Hill getting weird and psychedelic. Which it kind of is. But there’s a line in Jim Morrison’s lyrics that seems to sum up this album completely.
“Music is your only friend until the end,” and when Hill roars it, you’d best believe it makes sense here. He knows. The world might have gone insane, and the news might be as dystopian as Blade Runner, but we’ve got music as a beacon of hope.
As well as the remix of “….Insane,” there is a Bonus track of “Just Have To Ask.” I can pay it no higher compliment than to say it would have made the album even better if it was on there properly.
A record that was obviously tough to make, taking into account serious car accidents and postponements along the way, those eventual sessions at Foo Fighters’ 606 Studio resulted in a record that Hill himself says is the thing he’s most proud of.
So in that respect, it doesn’t matter what I or anyone else thinks. That said, he’s right. “Hanging By A String” is utterly sensational.
Rating: 9.5/10
REVIEW: STEVE HILL – HANGING BY A STRING (2024)
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