Steve Lacy - Apollo XXI

The Guardian 80

(3QTR)

As a teenager, Steve Lacy released two albums with funk troupe the Internet, one of them Grammy-nominated; he also released a solo EP, and, often building beats purely on his iPhone, worked with Kendrick Lamar, Solange, Vampire Weekend and many others. He also became a Louis Vuitton model. At 20, most of us are happy merely to have got laid and been on a plane; Lacy however is now also independently releasing his debut album and, gallingly, it’s really very good indeed.

His age perhaps gives him a puppyish energy, and he gads about from style to style. Love 2 Fast is slacker indie rock, a bit like Mac DeMarco, but topped with one of Lacy’s most full-throated vocal lines, recalling Miguel’s alpha-laconic psychedelic soul. Basement Jack is breezy summertime rap. Amandla’s Interlude is a lovely violin instrumental. Guide is like Prince delivering relationship advice over post-punk pop. 4ever has its two bars of gospel looped a la Madlib. N Side is as sensual as D’Angelo or Maxwell, but offset by cheap drum machines and a central line – “Tell me is it inside” – that is both erotic and insecure. It all stems from the galaxy-brained freedom of a generation unencumbered with boring genre considerations – but where the Internet’s similarly emancipated mindset can lead them down tuneless corridors, when left alone, Lacy turns towards hooks.

Pitchfork 69

The singer and guitarist’s debut solo album offers an introspective blend of R&B, hip-hop, & lo-fi pop but feels reluctant to claim the spotlight.

The Guardian 60

(3qtr)

Future-funk band the Internet are a thinly disguised talent incubator. After frontwoman Syd, their next breakout star is Steve Lacy, not yet 21 – a guitarist-cum-producer from Compton, California, who keeps the funk tight while pursuing a hazy, dreamy bent. He arrived fully formed, joining the Internet for their third album, Ego Death (2015), producing swaths of it even though he was still in high school.

Since then, a slew of guest spots – on Kendrick Lamar’s Damn LP (production), Vampire Weekend’s Sunflower single (guitar), or Louis Vuitton (catwalk modelling) – attest to Lacy’s range. His first solo outing since 2017’s Steve Lacy’s Demo (infamously produced on Garageband and iPhone) freewheels and confides in equal measure.