''Steve Lacy's Demo'' is the first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

by American musician

Steve Lacy Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya (born May 23, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He gained recognition as the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet, which he joined in 2015. His self-produced debut EP, '' ...

. It was released on February 24, 2017, by Three Quarter (3Qtr) and

AWAL AWAL (shortened from Artists Without A Label) is a global recording business that claims to serve as an alternative to the traditional record label, offering deal structures that provide artists with the resources and expertise of a global label ...

. The project has been described by Lacy as a song series.

Background

Lacy created most of the song-series on his iPhone, producing the guitar and bass arrangements and singing his vocals right into its built-in microphone. He also programmed the drum patterns in Ableton.

In popular culture

In August 2021, the song, "Dark Red", went viral on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, with videos featuring the song reaching over 110K views as of February 2022.

Critical reception

''Steve Lacy's Demo'' received positive reviews from music critics. Jonah Bromwich of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' said, " teve Lacysparkles with classic Southern California funk and soul... the music here is startlingly mature, full of dimension and depth, as if Lacy were accompanied by a full band rather than doing everything, right down to the mixing, by his lonesome." Kareem Sheikh of ''DJ Booth'' said, "''Demos six tracks are cohesive in both their smooth, sultry sound and their theme of young love... 'Demo''is fun, youthful and intimate, and is sure to convert any heInternet lover into a budding Steve Lacy fanboy." Makeda Sandford of ''Saint Heron'' stated that, " 'Steve Lacy's Demo''is an electrifying yet smooth thirteen minutes – a playful depiction of beachy funk, rock 'n roll-sprinkled soul."

Track listing

All songs written and produced by Lacy. Note * The track "Moron" was cut from the tracklist, but was self-released for free on April 1, 2017.

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2017 debut EPs Steve Lacy (guitarist) albums Albums produced by Steve Lacy Funk EPs Soul EPs