Jerry Paper is the recording persona of Lucas Nathan, who has been tinkering with electronic music for over a decade now. He’s been quite prolific, releasing five albums since 2012. His sixth, Like A Baby, is more off kilter bedroom pop that’s not always very serious but is certainly seriously fun.
“Your Cocoon” gets off to a hazy pop start with a soulful, R&B angle that finds plenty of grooves, before the vocally melodic “Grey Area” where keys give this a sophisticated yet playful atmosphere with Weyes Blood contributing vocals. “A Moment” is a bouncy, electronic flavored pop song, odd in all the best ways, and the warbly synth of “Something’s Not Right” continues the exploratory setting where not two tracks follow the same path.
The middle of the album offers the eccentric “Did I Buy It?,” the glossy smooth “Commercial Break,” where fluid guitar licks are in attendance, and the soft horns and synth of “My God.” One of the album’s best tunes, “Baby,” resides here and offers us funk spirit in a listen that is often pointing towards the ’70s for inspiration.
Late album greatness includes the quirky yet intimate fun of Huge Laughs,” where plenty of manipulation on the instruments gives the tune a unique flow, and the soft, sitar, and psych-friendly “You.” “More Bad News” closes the album on a languid closer of acoustic strumming, where Jerry Paper drops the best line penned this year: “I left my phone at home- it feels healthier.”
Like A Baby continues his esteemed tweaking of pop sounds, and here, Jerry Paper brings even more detail to his textures while often showing direct influences to sounds of decades past. While an album this clever may just not be within the grasp of many listeners, for those who ‘get it’, this eclectic soft rock from another dimension will be enlighten, entertain, and perhaps even inspire others to break away from all the monotony.
