“Order My Steps” Kevin Phillips (feat. Donnie Breeze)

The darkest of days call for extreme measures, and in his new single “Order My Steps,” Kevin Phillips is pulling out the big guns. 2020 has been rough, but he knows as much. So does his collaborating partner Donnie Breeze, and together they unveil something in “Order My Steps” that despite having a gospel theme is universally welcome during a year like this one. R&B grooves and the most supreme of harmonies are mashed together for a smooth-sipping cocktail of romantic vibes and easy-feeling melodicism in this song and its video, and I recommend taking a peek as soon as you can if you haven’t yet this month. 

There are a few moments in which this song feels like it is as much a social commentary as it is an extension of gospel, with its biggest theme coming in the form of introspection (as referenced from the video’s cutaways to the beach, which embody a sense of reflection and recollection in this context). We’re coming to terms with something bigger than ourselves here, and if you want to take this as being a pathway to Christ you can; in its totality, “Order My Steps” just a bit too open-ended in tone to be relegated to the gospel crossover section exclusively. 

The music video for this track is straight out of Hollywood, with its quality shots looking like the product of a big budget producer’s conceptualism – yet none of the imagery feels forced or disingenuous. There is such a thing as being able to get an ideal result without having to sellout your brand or your natural aesthetics in the process, and if ever that were true of a single release, I believe it is when it comes to Kevin Phillips’ “Order My Steps.” 

With its vocal harmony being as powerful as it is, there just isn’t any need for any big instrumental filler in this mix, and Phillips was right to keep it out of the picture here altogether. Donnie Breeze’s rapping is the only additional element that even slightly works for this kind of a composition, and really if it had been anyone else other than him (or at least a rapper utilizing a more aggressive style or rigidity over fluidity) I don’t think that the song would have felt as right as it does in these circumstances. He puts his own mark on it just as the star himself does, and that’s always the goal in a collaborative effort. 

Gospel, R&B, neo-soul and soft pop fans of all ages will likely agree with me when I say that Kevin Phillips is doing God’s work in “Order My Steps,” and if we can get him and Breeze back into the studio together sometime in the future, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were able to record an entire album’s worth of content similar to what we’re getting in this performance. This is top shelf stuff, and undeniably the sort of opening to additional sessions together that could leave even the pickier of music critics interested in another go-round from this pair. 

Mindy McCall