Since the early 2010s, Lucas Nathan, known as Jerry Paper, has been dishing out lo-fi bedroom songs that document the anxieties of a young, internet-savvy musician. The newly admitted Stones Throw Records songwriter returns to form on Like a Baby, his latest full-length album. True to himself, the musician once again conjures his trademarked Muzak-like oddities.
‘Your Cocoon’, the album’s first single and opening track, starts the album off promisingly with its venom-spitting lyrics against status symbol obsessive people. The song is backed by these wobbly synths and rubbery bass lines. The next song, ‘Grey Area’ features Santa Monica singer Weyes Blood singing in gorgeous breathy vocals that pair well with Jerry Paper’s monotone and baritone voice.
Your usual Jerry Paper musical palette is present again: internet soaked R&B, yacht rock and synths. There are doses of irony and sincerity across Like a Baby that it’s often hard to know which mood Paper is in. One thing is sure: Paper never goes beyond that monotone pitch he loves to find himself – a low energy attitude that blends into the background too easily.
‘My God’ is a moment of progression – the ethereal trumpet floats softly into the distance as the track slowly dissipates. Otherwise, the other tracks are interchangeable, no matter how soothing they are.
