Listening to "Hymns About Her" really proves how screwed up the British pop charts is. Here, a pretty-boy Timberlake-wannabe can score a "fastest ever selling single" entry in the Guinness book with a song so generic and predictable, even a severely lame monkey could do better.
Luckily, there's little chance Simon Cowell has any interest in Steven Dunston. Reason: this is thinking-persons music and not a disposable cheap-thrill. Melodic and amiable enough to make it entertaining, but listening to the words and how Steven phrases them along with the piano is nothing short of breathtaking. When I reviewed "To Get Home Before Night Comes", I noticed a lot of Steely Dan & Stevie Wonder influence - yet here, I still hear those influences to a certain point, yet there is a lot of the more care-free non-political side of Jackson Browne. Me like!
The stripped down sound really suits the songs, making them intimate and warm. Again, the songs are short and numerous with faultless lyrics and melodies - it really makes you want to keep listening.
I don't use this word often, but it's a masterpiece!