Released: August 25
Riding the wave of nostalgia brought about by Steps’ 25th anniversary celebrations, Claire Richards honours the divas that helped hone her craft on her second solo album, ‘Euphoria’.
Opening with the title song – a cover of Eurovision record-breaker Loreen’s 2012 winning single – complete with an extended intro a la Steps’ legendary live shows, it sets the scene for a collection that places Claire front and centre and sees the vocal powerhouse at the top of her game.
With each track reworked by producer-extraordinaire Steve Anderson (who, incidentally, is musical director for Steps and Claire’s live shows, along with the likes of Kylie Minogue and Delta Goodrem), classics like Kim Wilde’s Never Trust A Stranger, Laura Brannigan’s Gloria and and Whitney Houston’s So Emotional are spruced up for today’s audience while maintaining the authenticity of the originals and a nod to the innate nostalgia running through the record.
Lead single, a dance reworking of Celine Dion’s 2002 ballad, I Surrender, is the perfect example of such, while a cool remake of Cher’s Song For The Lonely and synth-pop rendition of the ABBA classic Summer Night City, featuring Erasure’s Andy Bell, are immediate highlights.
As is the vocal extravaganza resulting from Claire and Delta taking on the roles of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer on the disco classic (No More Tears) Enough Is Enough, which showcases the singer – almost three decades into her recording career – as one of Britain’s finest voices.
From impassioned, soulful takes on Stephanie Mills’ Never Knew Love Like This Before and The Carpenters’ Goodbye To Love, to the unadulterated joy of pop gems like Donna Summer’s This Time I Know It’s For Real and Olivia Newton-John’s Xanadu – and the fierce edge of Pat Benatar’s Love Is A Battlefield – ‘Euphoria’ encompasses a spectrum of pop over which Claire retains complete control.
But behind the music is a singer just looking to have a good time. “Every single song is a banger – listening to this album just makes me feel good,” she says. “I want everyone to whack it on before they go out and get themselves completely in the zone of having a good time”.
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
