You Can Be My Wave

Back in 2022, it was impossible not to witness Steve Lacy's massive rise after his breakthrough solo effort, Gemini Rights. Not only did audiences shower praise on the album, but it also earned him a Grammy win for Best Progressive R&B Album, further legitimizing the California artist as a premier voice in modern pop and R&B. Yet, as someone who doesn't traditionally lean toward R&B, I personally didn't feel compelled to join the bandwagon. That changed recently when the opening track of that record, Static, kept popping up on my social feeds. I was fascinated by its core contradiction: lush piano chords and serene, organ-like vocal harmonies juxtaposed against lyrics that were surprisingly flippant and crass. That intriguing friction got Lacy's foot in the door for me, putting me in a much more receptive mindset just in time for the rollout of his third studio album, Oh yeah?.

When I heard the single, the feeling, I immediately knew I wanted to hear the rest of the record. It is a beautifully written, tender pop ballad that finds Lacy trapped in a torturous situationship where he harbors intense feelings for a noncommittal fling. Lacy's vocal performance here is stellar, balancing emotive crooning with a subdued second-verse rap and lavishly layered chorus harmonies that communicate his emotional turmoil. Backed by a spellbinding production palette featuring an aquatic main melody, a wah-drenched bassline, acoustic guitar accents, and subtle string pads, it set very high expectations for the rest of the record.

As it turns out, the feeling somewhat stands alone on the album given its production polish and pop songwriting immediacy. But rather than trying to replicate that pristine sheen across all ten tracks, Lacy actively refuses to stay in one lane, and the album is vastly stronger for it. Oh yeah? remains an engaging listen thanks to its stylistic unpredictability and Lacy's blend of sleek R&B production and raw, lo-fi bedroom-pop aesthetics. Not only does this variation keep the tracklist from ever feeling stale, but it allows more of Lacy's eccentric personal character to shine through. The glue that holds this all together, however, are his narratives revolving around messy, fragile romances which are then propped up by deceptively simple, nursery-rhyme melodies and deeply impassioned vocal performances.

In addition to the feeling, Oh yeah? boasts a number of strong cuts. There's is it cool? which is a cloudy piece of pop-R&B that occasionally opens up to allow fuzzy guitar leads and shimmering, rate shifting synths to shine through. Lacy portrays himself as a partner who sincerely wants to commit, yet candidly admits he can't control his impulse to stray. SZA enters to provide the opposite perspective, a partner staying despite her better judgment. The track uses "trust" as an integral motif: for Lacy, trusting himself might mean finally stopping his unfaithfulness, whereas for SZA, it means recognizing her self-worth and walking away.

pure colour is a hazy, mystical highlight that achieves a thick, suspended atmosphere with just a bass guitar. There are some ethereal elements that pop in from time to time, like an unwavering, high-pitched synth line, muted harp runs, and cavernous reverb trails. Lacy delivers an uncharacteristically smoky vocal performance and Erykah Badu follows suit with her vocal appearance. Although, her vocals are heavily treated with delays that transform her voice into a spectral, rushing jet stream of air. For three minutes, it feels like floating in total weightlessness.

On doom, Lacy takes a sharp left turn into guitar-driven slacker rock and nails it. I love the amateurish, punk-spirited vocal, a quality my younger self finds immensely endearing. Also, Lacy really leans into the blunt and irreverent aspects of his lyric writing as he makes light of the fleeting, impersonal flings associated with hookup culture. Before the song comes to a close, Lacy transitions into an acoustic outro that is quite dreamy. The surprises continue with lovesexdrugbomb which kicks off with a childlike melody doubled by fuzzy guitar and vocals. The track steadily evolves into a euphoric, sensual daydream thanks to hyperpop-inflected vocal manipulations and synths. Guest contributor Cecile Believe (known for her work with SOPHIE) helps push the composition even further into an otherworldly realm.

Finally, Lacy keeps the biggest surprise for last with bebe. It's a 60s-inflected psych-rock jam with heavy piano chords, primitive distorted guitars, walking basslines, and distant, thudding percussion. Lyrically, it examines a new, overwhelming romance once again from dual angles. The first two verses frame this sudden connection like a sinister hex, delivered in an oddly manic, Ty Segall-inspired inflection. Lacy returns to a grounded vocal tone for the final verse, expressing apprehension before plunging ahead anyway. The track abruptly cuts off with Lacy admitting the decision messed up his life, leaving the listener to guess whether it was for better or worse.

While the tracklist remains pleasantly consistent, a few moments do hold Oh yeah? back. The title track's electro-pop approach feels a bit underwhelming as an entry point; lacking Lacy's most engaging vocal performance or dynamic song structure. As an acoustic ballad, show you me felt a little too drab and stagnant. By comparison, the subsequent acoustic track nothing handles this lane a little better, benefiting from an animated vocal performance, varied vocal treatments, and subtle instrumental additions toward its backend. And while the daring jungle breaks and pop/rap fusions are ambitious, the daunting nine-minute runtime of nice shoes / in your world asks a lot of the listener's attention span, especially as the track devolves into loose, conversational banter toward the end.

For my first Steve Lacy project, I was pleasantly surprised. Going off the feeling, I guess I anticipated a very prim and proper R&B record which has worked for me in one-off cases, but historically, full albums of this kind rarely capture me. So when I started to pick up on the different musical reference points and heard Lacy's unique approach to production, I quickly realized that this is one of those boundary testing records. I now understand why his artistry received the acclaim it did after Gemini Rights, and I look forward to hearing more of his catalogue going forward.