Like two months ago Steve's band "The Internet" posted about two upcoming solo albums without naming which members but it ended up being Matt Martian's project "The Last Party" which although I did enjoy hasn't managed to stick with me much (other than "Knock Knock" which is a whole ass bop). And the second one ended up being Steve Lacy's "Apollo XXI" a set of tracks based around that are funkiness and groove as "The Internet"'s last couple projects. As usual I'll do a track by track review and an overall review with the score I'm giving the album.
Track 1; Only If; This song has one of the quirkiest beats on the record, the drum that falls in and then takes itself back sounds great and adds to the quirkiness of the track. The guitar plucks are also pretty quirky and adds an element of nostalgia or maybe one of being a kid. The subject matter is pretty nostalgic too, literally, he talks about wanting to travel back through time and fix a relationship that didn't work out the way he had hoped it would. Overall a pretty solid opener but definitely not the best on the project.
Track 2; Like me; Even though the song is extremely long (~9 minutes) it's easily one of my favorites on the project. Although the hook is a bit pandering it sounds so freaking good Steve's voice flows like butter on the instrumental that the song structures itself around. I also really like how Steve talks about his sexuality here, that he's a fisher and that it doesn't matter what he catches, if he likes it, he likes it. DAISY's feature even though one of the only vocal features on the album has an absolutely beautiful voice and this song has made me get into her own discography so go DAISY! The bridge is one of my favorite sections of the song it leads into a really cool kind of distorted synth sound? I'm not really sure what the instrument is but it's a really good transition into the second part of the song, which is, by the way, entirely different it sounds like, nothing like the first part. It starts off with what I assume are isolated xylophone sounds into a beat drop that brings in the other instruments, which after a while is transferred into a "Futura Free"sequel silent interlude, and then finally turns into the last part of the song which is also just lush and gorgeous. I would have sex with Steve's voice like wow that man can sing.
Track 3; Playground; This is that honky tonk shit but wow it's good. Honestly, this was one of the singles and it didn't impress me much when it came out but it has grown on me a lot. Another very quirky instrumental with some somewhat country sounding guitars that are surprisingly welcome (they also kind of sound like the Seinfeld theme song but that's neither here nor there haha). The lyrics are somewhat surface level, the playground metaphor alludes to someone playing with his emotions or vice versa and the consequences that come with that.
Track 4; Basement Jack; Even though it's one of the shorter songs it has one of the grooviest beats on the album. The lyrical content is how everyone brings him their problems and expect him to be able to fix them magically. He's also possibly alluding to him coming out of the closet with one of the lines out of the chorus "I've been out the basement". Other than that, a solid track.
Track 5; Guide; Although this has some pretty good vocal experimentation from Steve and a smooth beat this song just hasn't managed to stick with me much, but shout out Steve for being able to go that high with his voice it's pretty impressive. The beat just isn't that intriguing and neither is the lyrical content so it's most likely one of my least favorites on the project.
Track 6; Lay Me down; This is one sexy ass song, everything from the guitar riff to Steve's buttery vocals, it's a little Lionel Richie in the best way possible. Sadly it's pretty repetitive other than a couple of extra electric guitars layered over the vocals past the two minute point of the song, it's pretty much the same instrumental on repeat with the same lines, so again it just hasn't stuck with me much but definitely not a skip if it comes on.
Track 7; Hate CD; Pretty basic lyrical content, this man in this case is his addiction, his drug, and he loves the high, but hates the part that comes after it, but again I don't know it just comes off as a rather generic indie song that doesn't have that much heart put into it the instrumental is just okay and although the vocals are always great they aren't that captivating on this track.
Track 8; In Lust We Trust; Another rather short track but again these short tracks are killing it, the hook is super super super catchy like really catchy and the little flare Steve adds onto the end of it is absolutely gorgeous, the basic guitar riff that accompanies the song actually works really well here and the little cuts that bring the riff back in here and there also sound great, a really easy song to just have on repeat without even noticing.
Track 9; One of my favorites on the project and I'm willing to say somewhat Beatles influenced, the vocals somewhat remind me of "Across The Universe" off "Let It Be", but the instrumental is much more energetic than that of that track. I love the self awareness he has on the song and the "Fuck" that fades out a couple times in the track is pretty humourous but sounds great. The riff is amazing and as always Steve sounds like an angel. The song has made its way into my main playlists so yeah. Love this song.
Track 10; Amandla's Interlude; Although it's just an instrumental I love how it starts it sounds like a bunch of friends just messing around in the studio. The instrumental although somewhat basic is pretty heavily emotional and kind of sad which is odd given how the song starts, but hey whatever. I think there's a violin on this song and it sounds gorgeous even if it isn't.
Track 11; N Side; This was the first single off the album and unlike Playground it didn't need any time to grow on me, from the beginning it's been a favorite. It's insanely sexy, I remember when it came out telling someone "I would both have sex to this song and with this song". The voicemail interlude is a classic nowadays in music but it sounds even better than usual here thanks to Steve's voice. The beat sounds rather exotic and adds to the greatness of this song. If you haven't checked it out, do yourself the favour.
Track 12; Outro Freestyle/4ever; I never knew I needed Steve laying down bars but hey 100% not against it, even if the bars are a little corny (Call me number two ’cause really, I think I’m the shit). But he flows really well he should make more rap based tracks. This song is also one of the few that I think really fits the title of the album, because it sounds pretty spacy (Outro Freestyle at least). And the 4ever part is beautiful I'm not 100% sure if he got a choir to sing it or if it's a sample but either way it sounds great and is a fantastic finisher to the album.
All in all I really did enjoy this project although it isn't my AOTY it has some pretty good replay value and is definitely one of my favorite indie projects to come out this year with some absolutely fantastic songs like "N Side", "Outro Freestyle/4ever" and "Like me". Overall it was a pretty solid project, 7/10.