“After years as a side player, Gemini Rights (the follow-up to his 2019 debut album Apollo XXI) is a full-fledged declaration of identity made in the spotlight — an opportunity for listeners to further hear what’s entranced and impressed all of his collaborators in those private rooms.” – GQ HYPE
“Lacy is an accomplished producer and writer who has lent his talents to everyone from Vampire Weekend and Kendrick Lamar to Mac Miller and Solange. These artists come to Lacy for a particular blend of genre-defying and densely textured songs that feel like they’re from a different era yet entirely current.” – HIGHSNOBIETY
“Mercury” is a total trip — a five-minute odyssey of bossa nova, psych-rock, R&B and electropop tied together into one gloriously Frankenstein’d pop song. Listening to this song feels a little like tumbling down a never-ending rabbit hole, in the best way possible.” – PAPER
“As refreshing as a spiked pineapple soda on the hottest day of the year, “Mercury” is a lovingly crafted tribute to the Brazilian bossanova of yesteryear with the modern flourishes you’d expect from an iconoclast like Lacy.” – THE FADER
“Lacy plunders anachronistic musical scenes in the interest of bringing fans together and pursuing his own wide-ranging tastes. The rock songs come with pleading R&B vocals; jazz and psych collide with funk, hip-hop, and Latin jazz. The seamlessness of it all suggests a keen imagination and a deep record collection. I can confirm Steve Lacy knows his shit.” – VULTURE
“The main source of his star power is his music: breezy but fraught, sensual but never slick, he’s one of the most exciting and singular songwriters of his abundantly talented generation. Comparisons to early 70s Stevie Wonder or early 80s Prince are valid: not only is Lacy just as startlingly young and already a decade into his career, but there is also the sense of an artist painting with colours he has mixed himself.” – THE GUARDIAN
Today sees the latest offering from Steve Lacy’s forthcoming sophomore album, Gemini Rights in the form of a collaboration with artist and friend Fousheé, “Sunshine.” The album, set for release this Friday July 15, 2022 on RCA Records, includes previously released acclaimed single “Mercury” and recent Billboard Hot 100 entry “Bad Habit.” With the track’s release comes a beautiful and soaringly minimalistic music video directed by rubberband.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO “SUNSHINE”
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “SUNSHINE”
CLICK HERE TO PRE-SAVE GEMINI RIGHTS
Written, produced, and played pretty much entirely by Steve, Gemini Rights is an incredible leap forward for an artist who has already established himself as a true cultural force. At the ripe old age of 24, Lacy already has a veteran’s resume: Wired Magazine Tech Visionary, Time Magazine Most Influential Teen, Grammy-nominated for his debut album, Apollo XXI, multiple world tours, walked for Virgil Abloh’s first Louis Vuitton show in Paris, gave a TED Talk in NYC, produced a track on Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN (“Pride”) on his iPhone. His list of collaborators is a who’s who of game changing artists, all of whom look to Lacy to bring his signature brand of cool to their sonic table: people like Tyler the Creator, Solange, J.Cole, Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors, Kali Uchis, Thundercat, and Mac Miller, not to mention his guitar, bass, songwriting, and production with his bandmates THE INTERNET. His song “Dark Red,” which he literally made on his iPhone, just went platinum a few months ago as well.
None of this will prepare you for the sprawl and scope of Gemini Rights, however. Like Lacy himself, the record is an amalgamation of a crazy array of references and influences – everything from Caetono Veloso to Andre 3000’s The Love Below to the Beatles to Sly Stone to his friends/band mates in THE INTERNET and much more. Processing his first real heartbreak of his early 20s, Gemini Rights explodes with emotional breadth, with some songs calling out his ex (see: the first lines of album opener “Static” – “Baby you got somethin’ in your nose / sniffin’ that K, did you fill the hole?”) to others fully lamenting the loss (“Buttons”) and bouncing back with indignance (“Sunshine” featuring glorious vocals by Fousheé) and more. It is an album that’s savage, hilarious, tender, sexy, gender fluid, heartbroken, forthright, polyamorous, full of longing, and wears its heart on its sleeve in the best ways possible. Like its title, it is dichotomous but singular, and you will not hear another album like it in 2022.
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