Never or Now

Background and Release

The album started production in 2003 when Scott-Lee collaborated with Point4 to release her first solo single, "Lately". The album was originally going to be released in late 2003 as Unleashed, promotional samplers were sent out that year, "Lately", "Too Far Gone", "I'll Wait For You", "Sleazy", "Back In Time" and "Obscenely Delicious" were on the track listing of the Unleashed promo samplers. In hopes of releasing the album as Unleashed Scott-Lee had an interview with Toazted promoting the single "Lately" in Norway 2003, Scott-lee spoke about the album's planned release, "My new album is called "Unleashed" and it's coming out in July, in the UK and also here in the Netherlands and as I said I've been writing it for over a year so I've taken my time and I've wrote about 40 tracks and I picked the best 12 to put on the album so I feel proud I feel like I've done a good job and I think it's a really good album and I've worked with different producers, one of the producers that worked with All Saints, I've worked with some new up and coming people called Point4 who I wrote lately with and a few other songs with so I've worked with lots of different people in Great Britain, in Italy and in Sweden". After the success of "Lately" Scott-Lee released her second solo single called "Too Far Gone" which scarcely missed a spot in the top ten UK charts and she was therefore dropped by Mercury Records because of low sales and ultimately the release of Unleashed and any other material was cancelled.

While working on her MTV show "Totally Scott-Lee" in 2005, she signed to a small record company called Concept Records where she tried to release a single and have it place within the top ten in the UK charts. "Electric" was chosen by the record company to release as a single as they thought it would have some public appeal. The song was released as a single along with some b-sides including the track "Make It Last Forever" which was added to the track listing of "Never Or Now". After the single "Electric" peaked at #13 in the UK charts, the record label thought to keep Scott-Lee signed and decided to release the single in different places around the world as well as finishing up an album. The tracks from the Unleashed album promotional samplers were the only tracks from Mercury Records that were released to the public so they were added onto the final track listing of the record. In late 2005, Scott-Lee published a new song onto her website called "Boy On The Dance Floor" as a Christmas gift to her fans with the message "Merry Xmas from Lisa and all of the LSL team, we hope you love this free Xmas gift and have a great time singing and dancing along." This song was also added to the track listing of "Never Or Now"

In April 2006, it was announced that her first full-length solo album would be called "Never Or Now", the release date for the album was going to be 26 March 2007 presumably to capitalize her success from the Hit TV show "Dancing On Ice", she was eliminated early on in the show resulting in her finishing in 6th place so the release date for the UK was pushed back to June. However the album was released in South Africa on the set date for the UK release. The title of the album came from the last track on the record "Never Or Now" which Scott-Lee tried to push make a single instead of "Electric" as it was one of her favorite tracks on the album. When Scott-Lee reformed with the successful pop group Steps in 2011, it was rumored that the album was going to be re-released in the UK on 5 December 2011 with a revised track listing of 15 tracks, but Scott-Lee had no knowledge of the re-release therefore it was cancelled, although her interest in the re-releasing the album was expressed for when Steps would be touring in 2012 on their Ultimate Tour.

Composition

The album starts with Scott-Lee's 2003 hit single, "Lately", the track is an uptempo dance-pop song with influences of funk, lyrically it talks about a woman's infatuation about someone else. The second track on the album is Scott-Lee's second single "Too Far Gone" which is more trance influenced, lyrically the song is about a kiss-off to a former flame and having moved on from a past relationship. The next track is "Electric" which was written by Ben Adams and Guy Chambers, the track has more a Rock-Pop feel to it with harder hitting beats with electric sirens running through it. Lyrically Scott-Lee refers to herself as a metaphor for being somewhat like electricity singing the lyrics "Duracell got nothing on me/you know you're turning me on/an now I'm ready to blow yeah/ baby I'm electric" comparing herself to the battery brand Duracell. "Back in Time" is a dance-pop song which talks about regret and wanting to revisit the past to fix mistakes, it has been rumored that Scott-Lee wrote the song as a reaction to how Steps broke up as she wrote it before the release of her cancelled album Unleashed.

"Obscenely Delicious", the next track is a house influenced track which is lyrically about wanting someone to see themselves from someone else's perspective so that they see how great they are. The next track "Boy On The Dance Floor" is a Latin-dance inspired track with fast paced Guitar, the song talks about wishing that you would have plucked up the courage to make the first move with someone else that could have turned into a serious relationship in the future. "Give You My Love" is a mid-tempo dance-pop song which is lyrically similar to "Lately" in context. "Make It Last Forever" is a 90's inspired track with strong piano chords chiming through the beats that progresses into a more trance sound, it talks about living in the moment when you are with a lover the lyrics are a little more provocative than what has already been delivered in the album with the lyrics "so come with me/and I'll take you to/a secret place to hide/ I'll show you just what to do". "Sleazy" is the most provocative track on the album with underground synth sounds complimented with light beats, lyrically is talks about a character seducing a lover.

"I'll Wait For You" is the first ballad on the album with a low-tempo light beat and piano sounds and synths, the song talks about being upset over a past relationship, the chorus' melody is similar to Kym Marsh's single "Cry". "You're No Good For Me" is a more rock-pop track which has drawn influences from bands who broke out during the mid 2000s such as Keane and Kaiser Chiefs, the low-tempo song lyrically is about knowing that you should walk away from a toxic relationship but keep being drawn back into it. "Rush" continues the rock-pop sound into the album which is more uptempo song which, like "Give You My Love" is similar to "Lately" in terms of lyrical context. The album track "Never or Now" is the most rock influenced track on the album with electric guitar running through the track which talks about having to make a tough decision in a relationship.

Track listing

Promotional Singles and B-Sides

¹Featured as the b-side to Lately in the NL.

²Featured as the b-side to Too Far Gone

³Featured as the b-side to Electric

⁴Released as promotional single in UK clubs, and cancelled follow up single to Too Far Gone.

⁵Released on official compilation album Greasemania in the UK.