Gemini Rights, Steve Lacy (7/10)

Huge release day for the indie pop community last Friday (7/15/22) with new albums from Steve Lacy and Beabadoobee, both of whom last released albums in 2020. While Lacy exists in the R&B/funkdom and Beabadoobee more staunchly in the indie/bedroom pop scene, their fanbases definitely share an overlap, and I am inclined to agree as I think both are super talented! Anyways on to this particular album: 

Lacy had released three singles from this album prior to Friday: "Mercury," "Bad Habit," and "Sunshine (feat. Foushee)." Tbh, I wasn't a huge fan of any of the songs, although with the repetition of its Tiktok fame, "Bad Habit" really grew on me and Foushee definitely goes off on "Sunshine." After Dehd's and Horse Jumper of Love's albums this year, however, it was a really pleasant surprise to find that my favorite tracks on the album were not released as singles. I've been a fan of Steve Lacy's since 2017ish, and it's been really cool to see his transformation as an artist and a person. This album is super fucking gay lol -it's a breakup album after he got dumped by his white bf 😭 but it's honest and raw, and I think it's so cool that Lacy is exploring his queerness so explicitly and publicly. I mean the album opens, "Baby, you got something in your nose / Sniffing' that K, did you fill the hole?"😹😹😹😹 so gay. But on a musical production level, it is also clear that Lacy has grown a lot as an artist. While he's always been clearly one of the most talented guitarists in R&B (since The Internet), you can really see how he's pulling on more funk influences like Prince in this album, and the result is really cool. Like Snail Mail's last album, it's awesome to see artists really take control of the production aspect of an album and work it to make the sound exactly what they want instead of just the raw musical talent. On another note, as literally one of the hottest people alive today, it's pretty humanizing (read: mind-boggling) to see Lacy explore his insecurities and feelings of romantic rejection. Anyways, I don't love all the songs but honestly was impressed with this album; it also does really well with multiple listens. Proud of little gay Stevie. With this album and Kevin Abstract's new relationship with Nick Holiday, it's so cool to see such famous male rappers/artists be so public and unapologetic about being gay. Favorite tracks: Helmet, Buttons, Bad Habit