How does an artist followup a surprise hit? If that artist is Steve Lacy, the answer is lie low for a few years and return with a new album that doesn’t really follow that hit up. Listeners will not find a catchy ready-for-radio pop song like “Bad Habit” on Oh Yeah?, Lacy’s third solo album. Instead, they will find a collection of atmospheric, psychedelic genre fusions that mix a swirling sound with silly, bawdy humor.
Following a surprise hit
Lacy didn’t go out of his way to make “Bad Habit” a hit. The song was the fluke hit of 2022, going all the way to number one on the Hot 100 in an era when music connected to indie rock never really goes that far. Lacy first made his name as the guitarist for The Internet, the Odd Future affiliated collective that put out four albums of jazzy, soulful, funky R&B in the 2010s.
That is the lane that Lacy also continued in on his solo debut Apollo XXI. His followup, Gemini Rights, containing “Bad Habit”, found him in the bedroom pop lane just as that style was blowing up. He took that lo-fi sound all the way to the top of the pops. Although he was ruled ineligible for the Best New Artist Grammy, “Bad Habit” established Lacy in the public consciousness.
However, like many artists coming out of indie or alternative genres, Lacy seemed to have mixed feelings about his sudden success and newfound fame. If you come into Oh Yeah? looking for the next “Bad Habit,” you won’t find it here. Instead, Oh Yeah? takes influence from rock, psychedelia, trip-hop, and soul to build something less ready for the radio.
A mix of atmosphere and candid conversation
The opening title track offers spacey folk, and some of the other tracks on the album like “Show You Me,” “Nothing,” and the back-half of “Doom” are mostly Lacy and his guitar. Some of these songs offer frank, sexual lyrics that greatly contrast the gentle music. Sometimes this works but other times, it’s a bit jarring to hear.
Other tracks like “Doom”, “Lovesexdrugbomb”, and two-part “Nice Shoes/In Your World” offer genre mashups that hop between one style and another. “Doom” starts off in full 90s alt rock mode, where the frank lyrics fit much better than on the folkier tracks Lacy tries them on. Then, it transitions into another folky epilogue, but does it in such a way that it feels natural. Perhaps the track could’ve been a minute shorter, but it remains one of the albums standouts.
“Nice Shoes/In Your World” acts as sort of a centerpiece of the record even as its penultimate track. Over the course of its nine minutes, it switches between house music breakbeats, Moog synthesizer noodling, and a frank, comedic, and chilled out monologue. It’s an epic, and listeners might not even notice the transition between the single “Nice Shoes” and the “In Your World” part on first listen.
A pysch-pop swirl
Where the album works best is when Lacy finds himself in spacey psychedelic mode. “Is It Cool” is a swirling slice of electronic fuzz that recalls Beach House, with jagged guitars in the distance and SZA‘s guest vocals slightly buried in the mix. The main single “The Feeling” recalls Miguel as much as previous Lacy records. Its mix of new wave, folk, bubbling synths and almost emo vocals make it the most accessible track on the record. The closer “Bebe” has a bit of a Beach Boys tone, with more distant guitar and lo-fi mixing and one of the best chorus hooks on the album.
Oh Yeah? doesn’t have a song on it that will top the charts, but that’s not the point of the record. Instead, it re-establishes Steve Lacy as a curious genre explorer. The album is full of musical twists and turns, and it’s designed to wash over the listener with its mix of guitar fuzz and Moog electronics, all mixed with a silly sense of humor. It’s a solid effort, and one that affirms Steve Lacy as an artist to keep an eye on.
Album cover courtesy of RCA Records.
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'Oh Yeah' - Steve Lacy - 7/10
7/10
