Scott Cook and Pamela Mae’s performance of Steady For You is all about their connection: both the blend of their voices and the looks shared between them as they take joy in creating a song of love together. Musically, this is timeless and elegant, a finely crafted song to celebrate their enduring love. Cook’s guitar is delicate and light, dancing around the low melody and rhythm of Mae’s stand-up bass; there’s an effortlessness in the way the instruments intertwine, in much the same way that the couple’s voices interact, coming together and pulling apart in a harmonious vocal dance. Shot and edited by Kyle Armstrong, the intimate video performance captures the warmth of the relationship between Cook and Mae. Their love is clear and present, and it’s impossible not to be touched by the lyrics, the song’s purpose and the couple’s sincerity and harmony.
Cook says of the song: “Steady For You is the shortest and poppiest song on the album; a love song for my partner in life and in music, Pamela Mae. I moved in with her the month before the pandemic hit. She picked up the upright bass during that time to fill out our “house band” along with our multi-instrumentalist roommate Elliot Thomas, and the three of us did regular livestreams as Scott Cook and the Indoorables. In January of 2022, she left her job in labour relations to come on the road as a full-time musician, and since then we’ve crisscrossed 45 states, 8 Canadian provinces, a good chunk of Australia, both islands of New Zealand, and a fair bit of Western Europe. I’ve been following my whims for most of my life; this song was a way of singing myself steady for her.”
This fine acoustic rendition of Steady For You will be followed by a fuller version on Cook’s forthcoming eighth album, Troubadourly Yours, which is due out on 25th September on Groove Revival. This ten-song collection is the long-awaited follow-up to the well-regarded 2020 acclaimed Tangle of Souls. Since then, the songs have flowed, Cook recalls: “I started up a Patreon in 2021 with just one pay-what-you-can tier, and promised to share a new song every month or pause the payment. It’s amazing what a monthly deadline can do for your motivation. I used to write around four songs a year, so it’s tripled my output- I’m coming up on 60 new songs. These 10 felt like the best ones for Troubadourly Yours, since they’re all dense, storytelling songs. A hardcover book will follow, with a chapter dedicated to each song on the album. These were the songs that lined up with the bigger story I wanted to tell.”
Classic songwriting from the heart; check it out.
