British-born poet/artist/performer Steve Scott has been involved in or connected with Christian alternative music since 1983, having emerged from Croydon (South London) via the Bowery (New York City) before winding up in Sacramento, CA with the Exit Records scene there (Seventy Sevens, Charlie Peacock, etc.) where his debut album Love in the Western World was produced by Steven Soles (of Alpha Band fame). His solo work was a gleefully artistic take on new wave and/or post-punk with literate lyrics that pointed to his art school upbringing.
Yet Scott seemed equally content dabbling in spoken word ambient albums (see The Butterly Effect on Blonde Vinyl Records), writing poetry, or being involved in the independent film scene. Scott’s musical output, though small considering the length of time he’s been at it, has always been top quality, and his multi-faceted approach to the faith-art intersect has been downright mesmerizing at times. It’s a cliche perhaps, but one could be forgiven for arguing he’s a true Renaissance man (though, not “tearing himself from the Rock,” as his Sacramento friends might suggest).
“Heaven Hearts the Heart that Breaks” was actually the first song I heard from him, as a teen listening to an edgy CCM station out of Oklahoma City. The cool modern rock vibes with overladen saxophone tickled my ears while the scriptural and timely lyrics begged listeners to dig a little deeper into the mysteries of life and faith. The track comes from 1990’s collection Magnificent Obsession. There’s a great full discography here at the Blonde Vinyl-related tribute site Knottheads.com: https://knottheads.com/blondevinyl/artist/steve-scott/
As a bonus, we have a specially-made video collage made by none other than Jon Trott (Rez Band associate, and Cornerstone writer/editor), applying the lyrics to the contemporary struggles of immigrants fleeing violence and corrupt governments.