by Aaron “Fresh” Knight
Last year, genre bending crooner Jake Lloyd stuck his chest out and let the Austin music scene know he had arrived with his debut release, Jake Lloyd LP. The project’s infectious lead single, “Str8nge Frute,” significantly built up buzz about Lloyd. Now in 2019 Lloyd is back to make another statement– get used to seeing him, because he’s here to dominate with MoonLit Mornings, his sophomore effort releasing this Friday.
MoonLit Mornings kicks off with the recently released single, “Novella.” Like “Str8nge Frute” “Novella” continues Lloyd’s fascination with lovely women working in strip clubs, serenading a young lady by letting her know she’s just as good looking as any stripper if not better. The momentum continues with the single “Daily Interlude,” in which Lloyd aims for radio ubiquity, striving to be played everywhere. This is probably the most Austinist song made from an urban artist, exuding what most of us in Austin feel after a long day of work, as we long to hit a bar and drink the day away.
Adorning these confessions of love is production by Jake’s long time partner Danny Saldivar, or DSII Productions. The instrumentation helps personify each track, with bass pounding hard like the beat of an anxious lover’s heart, accompanied by the keys, helping the words of Lloyd to flow like the pumping blood through your body as you’re excited to just be next to your gorgeous lover.
What Lloyd and DSII have put together is the artist’s best work to date, blowing his debut out of the water, proving there is certainly no sophomore slump here. Wanting this album to serve as his Nostalgia Ultra, Jake Lloyd will likely catch the ears of new listeners and hopefully similar opportunities to what Nostalgia allotted Frank Ocean. On MoonLit Mornings, Lloyd brings true soul and the purest essence of R&B, making for a tough project for anyone to top.
Aaron “Fresh” Knight is the co-host of KUTX’s The Breaks, which airs on Saturdays at 10pm