Steve Hill: Dear Illusion

On Dear Illusion, Steve Hill, long a one-man band, marks his 25th year as a pro by punching up his sonics with a robust horn section (The Devil Horns) adding a scintillating soul/R&B edge to the proceedings and a powerhouse, much-awarded drummer in Wayne Proctor pushing the rhythmic assault forward with muscular style and sensitivity. Roaring out of the gate with “All About the Love,” Hill fashions a merciless, pounding assault betraying wanton lust fueled by pulsating horns and his own stinging guitar and fierce staccato vocal. In the title track, a relatively subdued Hill reveals self-lacerating regrets over being played by someone he loved as the horns suddenly roar in to underscore the folly of it all, shattering the fleeting calm here. “Don’t Let the Truth Get in the Way (of a Good Story)” is the showcase tune, a blistering hard rock screed decrying the splintered reality created by social media, alternate facts, and hyperpartisan media, with Hill’s aggrieved guitar solo underscoring the narrative’s gravity. A thoughtful, close-miked ballad, rife with regret and melancholy, “So It Goes” laments things gone wrong, from friendships to love affairs, over tender fingerpicked and slide guitar support. It all sounds close to the bone.