Steven Milne - Best Of Times
Best of Times is the name of the EP that comes from the mind of Mr. Milne. Four tracks that take Milne’s soothing vocals into different territories, from easy-listening pop to folk with a few electronic touches, it’s a short but sure taster of the man’s skills.
Things being kicked off with Best of Times, the title track, it’s inevitable to get drawn into the mood and atmosphere built by the album - while being something that you could easily find played on the radio, it always bears a certain weight of light-hearted philisophy, subtle but heavy enough to be noted, ready to raise the bar high enough from mindless pop to clever easy-listening. The music is ever so gentle and classy, very simplistic in the first minute to then evolve into a modern ballad that serves as the perfect ice rink for the warm vocals to slide flawlessly.
It all changes a bit with the second offering, Rip It Up. While following the same thread in the lyrics, it all now sounds like pop with a teary eye for the 80’s. Milne continues to sing with ease simple words that I suspect hide something with a bit more meaning for those willing to listen carefully, but then again I might be wrong. It does, however, feel like the perfect soundtrack for Monday morning, when things could really be so much better and you just need a certain kick to uplift your mood, ready to start things off in a new and possibly better way.
That is definitely the recurring idea that travels through each track, to better your mood and do things better, especially when Brian Wilson, the third track, kicks off. Here things are more delicate, none of the 80’s are longer present, leaving space to a more folky approach to things with ever so gentle and heart-warming echoes and melodies. It sounds as if Chris Martin was singing a Travis song, and I mean that in the best possible way.
The one track that stole my attention and kept it all for itself, though, is Being Human. As the title might suggest, it’s a personal, emotional track on how some of us behave - a wonderfully executed track with nothing but an acoustic guitar, Milne’s voice and some slight background noise, it’s meant to be played on repeat, accompanied by the dark evening sky and memories, with the ever requested presence of alcohol. Being Human is simply achingly beautiful.
Steven Milne - Human Being by Bedford Records
