Steps - Here and Now

MAY 28 2001 · 12:00

Steps - Here and Now (2001) Director: Marek Losey Era: Late British Pop Boom (2001) - Peak of the UK manufactured pop era, concurrent with the final commercial wave of groups like Steps before the genre's mainstream collapse post-2001. A high-value archival document capturing the peak visual and commercial ambition of UK manufactured pop at the precise moment before the genre's structural collapse. The video's theatrical concept, cross-single narrative bridge, and confirmed £100,000 production investment make it an exemplary and well-resourced specimen of its type. Director Marek Losey's involvement connects it to a broader lineage of British commercial and music-video craft. Its warm, saturated palette and labyrinthine staging offer rich material for aesthetic and cultural analysis. Context: Released in June 2001, 'Here and Now' arrived at a pivotal moment for UK manufactured pop. Steps had achieved consistent top-five success throughout the late 1990s and 2000, and this double-A side with 'You'll Be Sorry' served as the final single from their third album Buzz. The UK pop landscape was rapidly shifting as reality television formats (Pop Idol launched later that year) began displacing traditional group-managed pop acts. The video's theatrical hedge-maze concept, visually lush, symbolically optimistic, reflects both the peak aesthetic ambition of the genre and an unconscious valedictory quality, as the group would split in December 2001. The warm saturation and golden tones align with a summer release strategy designed to maximise chart impact during peak pop consumption months. Director notes: Losey directed multiple videos for Steps during this period, including 'Here and Now' (2001), 'You'll Be Sorry' (2001), and 'Summer of Love' (2000), as well as segments of the 2022 Platinum Megamix, establishing an ongoing creative relationship with the group. The 'Here and Now' video features a distinctive hedge maze concept set, with the group navigating and leaving trails of flowers wherever they touch. Notably, the end of the video links directly into the companion video for 'You'll Be Sorry', making it part of a connected double-A-side visual narrative. IMDb notes an estimated production budget of £100,000. A co-director credit is also referenced in sources, consistent with Losey's earlier commercial directing partnership under the Trademark banner before his 2001 solo split. The video was produced by Séverine Hamilton.