Steve Adey

Steve Adey
Promo image for The Tower of Silence LP
Background information
Origin	Birmingham, England
Genres	Alternative, art rock, avant-garde, experimental rock, folk, baroque pop
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Grand Harmonium
Website	steveadey.com
Notable instruments
Piano, harmonium

Steve Adey (born in Great Barr, Birmingham, England) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. His music is characterised by slow tempos, minimalist arrangements, underpinned by piano and a rich baritone vocal. To date, Adey has released two albums and various EPs and singles.

Adey released his critically well received debut album All Things Real in 2006 through independent record label Grand Harmonium Records. Music journalists often categorise his piano, vocal led songs as folk and singer-songwriter, but also acknowledge a harder, less generic, left of mainstream approach; No Ripcord's Simon Briercliffe writes "His voice is rich and carries on long after it's comfortable, at times far louder and more in your ear than is comfortable, leaving you hanging on every word." Writers generally warmed to the album's introspective songs and well chosen covers. US journal for improvised and progressive music 'Signal to Noise' heralded the album as "haunting folk into straight-up epic territory." Many reviews picked up on the integration of hi-fidelity crossed with a lo fi, homemade approach. Sunday Times critic Mark Edwards: "The secret lies in the gap between Adey’s main influences: on the one hand, the mournful, home-made alt-country of Oldham and Smog; on the other, the pristine atmospheres of the Blue Nile and Talk Talk." Critic Leon McDdermott (Glasgow Herald) writes "Adey channels the spirit of Smog, minus Bill Callahan's caustic take on dysfunctional relationships; elsewhere, there are hints of the late Jeff Buckley's mournful tenderness."