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‘No plan, no budget, no promotion’: how a genre-mashing masterpiece by a forgotten New York beatnik blew Gen Z away
A once-obscure Scottish musician, Steven Hall, has been catapulted to critical acclaim in his late sixties after decades of unreleased music surfaced as the double album My Skyscraper, released under his stage name Nirosta Steel. Compiling songs recorded between 1984 and 2025 and blending disco, folk, synth-pop, Chinese opera and choral music, the record has drawn glowing reviews, including Pitchfork calling it "an archival triumph and one of the year's most thrilling new releases." The story matters as another example of a historically overlooked artist being rediscovered decades later, this time propelled by unexpected enthusiasm from younger listeners.
The album emerged after a label boss, impressed by Nirosta Steel's 2014 record Cool Fire, asked Hall whether he had further material, prompting him to hand over dozens of unreleased songs spanning four decades. Hall, who had been getting by driving for Uber near Chicago, has seen demand surge dramatically: orders jumped from a planned 200 copies to 1,000, with the label now considering a pressing of 2,000. Raised in Glasgow before his family relocated to the US, Hall's life intersected with figures such as Allen Ginsberg and Arthur Russell during his time in New York's East Village arts scene, lending the record's belated success a sense of poetic justice.
In short
- Scottish musician Steven Hall's shelved 1984-2025 recordings released as My Skyscraper
- Album, made under name Nirosta Steel, praised as an "archival triumph"
- Demand surged from 200 to 1,000+ orders within weeks
Explained simply
Scottish musician Steven Hall, who performs under the stage name Nirosta Steel, has unexpectedly achieved international critical acclaim in his late sixties after the release of My Skyscraper, a double album compiled from previously unreleased material. The album draws together music recorded across four decades, blending disco, folk, synth-pop, Chinese opera and choral music. Critics have praised it significantly, with influential music publication Pitchfork calling it "an archival triumph and one of the year's most thrilling new releases."
Hall's material surfaced after a record label executive, having heard his 2014 album Cool Fire, asked whether he had other songs available. He provided dozens of previously unreleased recordings spanning four decades, which were compiled into My Skyscraper and have generated unexpected demand. Until recently, Hall had been working as an Uber driver near Chicago to support himself, but the album's success has created potential for significantly increased production from initial plans of 200 copies to possibly 2,000.
The rediscovery is particularly significant because of Hall's documented presence in New York's East Village arts scene, where he encountered influential figures including poet Allen Ginsberg and musician Arthur Russell. His emergence from decades of obscurity exemplifies a broader phenomenon in which overlooked artists achieve recognition years or decades later, often with surprising appeal to younger audiences.