In all honesty, it’s a bit embarrassing to explain how I fell in love with Steve Lacy. However, because of my dedication to both The Central Trend and Lacy, I’ll expose myself: I was listening to a romantic music compilation on YouTube and came across his biggest single, “Dark Red.” 

I never really dove into Lacy’s content apart from “Dark Red” for several months; it wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy his music, but rather that I like to find singular songs by many artists rather than full albums by a few when building my playlists. Because of this, Lacy’s name slipped my mind during that period while I was listening to his hit song nearly every day. 

Needless to say, I was taken aback when I heard Lacy’s distinct voice echo through the radio of my Jeep with a new single. Normally, I don’t have the best quality of music in my Jeep because I can’t connect my Bluetooth, but I distinctly remember having the widest grin on my face as I took in the now leaderboard-topping song “Bad Habit.”

“Bad Habit” is very much a song of Lacy’s that captures his style without being as unusual as some of his other pieces. It’s smooth, relatable, and pleasant, but still catches the ear and holds it captive. The second I heard it for the first time, I knew that the masterpiece could be created by none other than Lacy.

For some reason, I had failed to notice throughout the latter half of my summer that Lacy had released an entire album preceding his single. Gemini Rights hit the public in July of 2022, but there certainly wasn’t enough hype around the album, since I never had heard of it despite its astounding quality.

When I opened up the heart of the album, I started off with “Static.” The song starts off very quietly, and I had to crank up the volume in order to hear it. Truly, it’s not really my favorite piece in the album since I think it had a lot of potential that unfortunately was wasted. I was positively in love with the minimal background instrumentals, but Lacy’s voice didn’t tie into them smoothly. It sounded a little clunky, which may have been the point, but “Static” wasn’t really my style.

From “Static,” however, this album only scored higher and higher in my book.

The moment I heard the tapping of symbols in the next song, “Amber,” I knew that I was about to fall in love just as those in the lyrics had. Lacy’s voice is a bit different in this song, but I enjoyed the variety he offered. In contrast to “Static,” “Amber” had a much more solid pace, which is something I always appreciate in a song. It wasn’t excessive and monotonous, but it was definitely a relief to know that not all of the songs in Gemini Rights were as scrambled as “Static.” Despite the fact that the lyrics were simple and seemingly lacked complex thought, the music and instrumentals more than made up for it.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was “Give You the World.” It was much more electronic sounding, and the overall style immediately brought Bruno Mars to mind; Lacy sounded almost exactly like Mars in this track. “Give You the World” was another one of the many slower songs that Lacy included in Gemini Rights, which didn’t float my boat, but I appreciate them for what they are. I briefly brushed over “Give You the World,” because it was the same idea throughout the entirety of the song. It wasn’t one that ranked at the top of the album.

Although I was not as impressed with some of the more unusual songs, I breathed a sigh of relief when I got around to “Helmet.” If the other songs weren’t Lacy, this one certainly was. It had tinges of new elements, but it was Lacy’s distinct voice and style throughout. Just as my faith in Gemini Rights was starting to fade, it was instantly renewed with “Helmet.” It had the repetitiveness that most of Lacy’s songs have, but it worked out perfectly and wasn’t over the top. 

“Helmet” immediately had Lacy front and center, but “Buttons” didn’t. I have implied that this isn’t a good thing throughout the majority of this review—I make an exception for this song. “Buttons” was eerie, mysterious, and ever-changing. It took every negative adjective I applied to my least favorite songs and cloaked them with positivity. Inconsistent became full of variety, and scattered became all-encompassing. I couldn’t guess what tone this flipbook of a song would slide into next, and when it came to an end, I found myself wishing that the barely over three-minute song was ever so slightly longer.

I thought I would be completely immersed in Gemini Rights, but for several minutes, I found myself severely disappointed. Over time, though, the majority of songs proved to be some of the most spectacular tracks and upped my love of Lacy’s work.