What does one do when they reach the apex of commerciality as an artist? For Steve Lacy, this career high arrived via 2022’s ‘Bad Habit’, an earnest, self-reflexive dirge bathed in incessant yearns for hindsight from his acclaimed second album ‘Gemini Rights’. Peaking at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100, the song morphed a stable, cult career – one coloured by his individual works with the likes of Ravyn Lenae and Thundercat, and as part of the prolific, blog-era breakout collective The Internet.

It seems, then, that Lacy’s answer to his mainstream breakthrough is his latest album ‘Oh Yeah?’, a continuum of sorts to ‘Gemini Rights’, but also to his 2019 debut album ‘Apollo XXI’ in some ways, his radical display of honesty still a centrepiece from the moment it courts the eardrum. The album’s title track and opener is steeped in existentialism, Lacy questioning the point of life, hurt and vulnerability. “I don’t wanna lose again / Please, I beg / Could my hope be of value?” he ponders over electric guitar riffs that form central tenets of the psychedelic pop-rock architecture.

This transparency isn’t a strategic methodology, it orbits Steve Lacy in both his personal and artistic life. Whether he’s acknowledging his self-sabotage (‘Is It Cool?’ with SZA), bonding over absentee fatherism alongside juggernaut Soulquarian Erykah Badu (‘Pure Color’), or posting a new photo embracing a heavily rumoured new boyfriend Omar Apollo, Lacy divulges on his own terms. But the album doesn’t just confront Lacy’s personal frustrations, it also looks at larger societal ruminations too. Alt-rock, soul-infused earworm ‘Doom’ acknowledges a plagued late-Millennial and Gen-Z dating landscape, for example, offering rationale for Lacy’s hedonism, self-sabotage and emotional insecurity.

Lacy’s ultimate superpower lies in his ability to serve larger releases with a nourished brand of succinctness. ‘Oh Yeah?’ is seeping with hallmarks of rumination and want, fearlessness and regret, but the multifaceted artist is able to soothe the tension of contemplation and decisiveness. His instincts allow him to adequately move forth when necessary, never lingering in an emotion to the point that it feels redundant, or like self-sabotage, he’s quick to decipher the lesson or sentiment, it’s an endearing, almost commendable brand of self-reflection.

‘Oh Yeah?’ shows Lacy’s ability to meet the zeitgeist where it’s at, his reflections feeling like personal anecdotes to the listener – a mirror to a society experiencing everything, everywhere all at once amidst a polycrisis. His closing remarks, on album closer ‘Bebe’, perhaps encapsulate this competency best: “Do you got your vows, Bitch? ‘Cause I do / That’s the story ‘bout the time I got my life screwed up”. It’s yet another reminder that the singer-songwriter will never run from the opportunity to hallmark his experiences (and ours too) – a barrage of parables, lessons and ultimately the divine paradox of human contradiction.

Details

  • Record label: RCA Records
  • Release date: July 17, 2026

The post Steve Lacy – ‘Oh Yeah?’ review: a radical assessment of himself and the zeitgeist appeared first on NME.