Stephen Hill

"Gorey man Stephen Hill takes a note from the book of Damo, singing in the accent we'll fiercely defend but sometimes still cringe to hear. That said, it works well here. His attack on Mary Harney and the local Superquinn's secret complicity in European colonialism couldn't work in any other dialect anyway. 'Conspiracy' is a fantastically funny proselytisation, a howl to us to recognise this dispicable and corrupt age, and after a few listens it becomes a compelling diatribe. 'Microsoft develops it,' he yells 'Are you listening to me?'. We are now." - Hot Press

"Stephen opened things with his brilliant off beat walking blues ‘Conspiracy’ and followed it with more of his hard hitting social commentary takes, laced with his own brand of ironic humour, a top class performance that finished up with two encores ‘The man with the plan is dead’ and Nick Caves song about an electric chair. Steve is up and coming at the moment and you can catch him in various venues round the country over the next weeks. Watch out for this one." - Darren Byrne

"A Wexford native, resident in Dublin, Steven quotes influences such as Nick Cave and Elvis Costello. He’s been polishing his skills in the time-honoured way, playing at lots of singer-songwriter and open mic sessions. His accented vocal performance will polarise people. I think it has a certain charm, and I certainly prefer a natural diction to musical elocution lessons. In the midst of a barrage of soulless performances and fake American accents, this single stands out. “Use it” is a bouncy electric folk/pop number. It’s Summery and uplifting, and musically it lies somewhere between The Rembrandts and The Housemartins. I’m still trying to figure out the lyrics, but it seems to be a song encouraging us to seize the moment and make the best of life. Stephen paints a wonderful picture of urban Irish life: “A lady shouts from the bus stop She wants a word in the tea-shop Dressed like some queen long faded” I thought I noticed a little distortion when the vocals came in. It sounds like something was slightly overdriven in the vocal chain, and you probably won’t hear it unless you look for it. There are occasional pitching issues when Stephen goes low, and some uncontrolled vibrato creeps in. “Down My Way” is a dreamy love song, with shimmering Hammond organ and understated backing vocals from Annette Moore-Holland. The acoustic has been equalized, as it has in the other songs, to give it greater presence in the upper mids and some of the low end has been scooped, allowing the bass to breath. It would sound harsh in isolation, but is pleasantly bright and in-your-face in the context of the overall mix. There are some interesting insights into the male/female relationship: “And I’ll wipe your tears if you live with mine”. “God, She is Beautiful” is Stephen’s answer to the Chilli Pepper’s “Under the Bridge”. It’s a love song to Dublin city. Once I’d gotten my head around this, the song made sense. The lyrics are poignant and insightful, though the arrangement is a little pedestrian and the mix is a little harsh on the ears with too much happening in the mids. This is a solid debut release, with charm and character. I would like to see Stephen get a little more adventurous, musically for his next release. Some more intricate chord progressions, middle eights and bigger arrangements would provide a better backing for his lyrical prowess." - Musician.ie