Steps’ Claire Richards sings Deeper Shade Of Blue like you’ve never heard it before

Turning uptempo pop anthems into thoughtful ballads works pretty well for the John Lewis Christmas adverts and The X Factor’s Judges’ Houses, but Steps’ Deeper Shade Of Blue doesn’t exactly spring to mind as an obvious choice for the stripped-back treatment.

Still, Claire Richards – let’s face it, the 90s quintet’s lead singer – has recorded a piano-only version of the track and suddenly it sounds like a heartstring-tugging moment from a West End musical.

It’s also pretty surprising how depressing the lyrics are when you listen to them properly (“The days are so empty, nights are so long, awaking to find again that you’ve gone”). It’s certainly not as cheery and high-camp as those outfits in the original video would have you believe.

Produced and arranged by Steve Anderson, the recording has gone down well on SoundCloud with 15,000 spins and unanimously positive comments.

Claire’s been keeping busy with work as a television personality since Steps reformed in 2011; making it to the finals of Celebrity Big Brother and Get Your Act Together and also appearing as a panelist on Loose Women.

Steps’ reunion kickstarted a big nostalgia-driven craze for the last generation’s pop heroes to return; prompting two series of ITV2’s The Big Reunion and, more recently, the high-profile but TV-show-free comeback of S Club 7.

The Tragedy hitmakers announced a hiatus in 2013 after a heavy year of touring but insisted that they have not permanently disbanded. Faye Tozer is hosting on Mercury FM in Spain, Lee Latchford-Evans is having a go at a movie career and working as a celebrity personal trainer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins has continued appearing in various shows and Lisa Scott-Lee is running a performing arts school in Dubai.

Claire also recently recorded a stripped-back version of One For Sorrow that she performed at a Pete Waterman tribute night in London – read our review of the show and give the song a listen here.