Steps

Three years after they staged one of the most successful comebacks of the decade, enduring British pop legends Steps – aka H, Claire, Faye, Lee and Lisa – return once again with their sixth album, What the Future Holds. If you thought 2017's hi-energy Tears on the Dancefloor album, which launched with the giant glitter ball-sized banger Scared of the Dark and concluded with a sold-out arena tour, was a step into the big leagues then brace yourselves. Not only is the first single written by pop queen Sia, the versatile new album sees the band reunite with the likes of Fiona Bevan (One Direction, Lewis Capaldi), Ina Wroldsen (Shakira, Britney Spears) and Karl Twigg, who worked on their first three albums, plus experiment with the likes of Hannah Robinson (Kylie) and new pop shape-shifters such as Gracey and MNEK. “We will never forget the past with Steps, it's what made us,” say the band, “but we've got to look to the future too.”

Launching during the halcyon days of pop in 1997 with their line-dancing classic 5,6,7,8, Steps set about re-turfing the music landscape via 14 UK top 10 singles and three multi-platinum albums in three years including #1’s Tragedy and Stomp. Fast forward twenty years, the band returned with the mighty ‘Tears On The Dancefloor’, which was only kept off the UK top spot by Ed Sheeran, before becoming the second biggest-selling independent album of 2017 behind Stormzy. A few years later, the band are back with their most ambitious album to date, showcasing the big melodic choruses of their top-tier bangers but also bringing back the harmony-laden ballads and some atmospheric mid-tempos. What the Future Holds is the best distillation of Steps so far; an album that shows both a deeper shade of blue and a brighter future.