Steven Lemon’s debut album, …a strange pale blue, is an amusingly offbeat collection that blends quirky humor with introspection. Drawing from a diverse palette of indie, pop punk, and soft rock, Lemon creates songs that are both whimsical and emotionally resonant.
The journey kicks off with “The Radio and Me,” a whimsical nod to Lemon’s childhood, where the warmth of FM frequencies was more than just background noise—it was therapy. The track layers synth textures with lo-fi vocal processing, creating a retro-futuristic soundscape that feels like watching home movies on a dusty VHS tape.
But the standout moment arrives early with “Velma Daisy Dinkley.” It’s a love song to the brainiest member of the Scooby-Doo gang, packed with lyrical wit and melodic playfulness. The chorus is an instant earworm, made all the more charming by Lemon’s unapologetically auto-tuned vocals.
TRACKS
1. The Radio and Me
2. Lifeline
3. We Better Go
4. Velma Daisy Dinkley
5. Parvin State Park
6. Candyland
7. Peas and Carrots
8. This Old Man
9. That Sinking Feeling
10. Scooter Skeleton
11.Chipping Away
12. Bones
Lemon’s use of auto-tune is not a crutch but an intentional artistic choice, adding a synthetic layer that contrasts beautifully with the grounded humanity of his subject matter. His lyrics traverse a wide range of topics, from the mundane to the surreal, creating a tapestry of stories that are both relatable and delightfully unpredictable.
If you’re wondering whether this entire album is tongue-in-cheek or soul-baring sincerity, the answer is—it’s both. And that’s what makes it work. …a strange pale blue is less about musical perfection and more about emotional resonance, an album that invites you to smirk and sigh in the same breath.
Tracks like “Scooter Skeleton” switch gears emotionally, delving into themes of playful delinquency. On the other hand, “Parvin State Park” evokes the nostalgia of childhood, rekindling not only memories of goofing around in the great outdoors, but also the imaginative fantasies that accompanied those days.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4At1l1dNJQMzBVJjFjhmuF?si=zZ1MV-t7R5GjTpH1tDsqfQ
The final track, “Bones”, is especially powerful, stripping away the album’s playful exterior to reveal a sparse piano ballad that hits you like a truck. It’s Lemon at his most vulnerable, and a welcome change of pace that grounds the album’s quirkier moments.
This album isn’t tied together by a constant narrative, and neither does it need to. Each track feels like a diary entry dressed in a different costume: sometimes goofy, sometimes philosophical, but always honest.
With …a strange pale blue, Steven Lemon delivers a collection that’s clever, heartfelt, and joyously odd. It’s the kind of album that you can put on replay, not to decode some deeper meaning, but just to bask in its strangely comforting awkwardness. It’s a bold debut, but a delightfully entertaining one at that.
ONLINE:
https://stevenlemon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stevenlemonmusic/
https://www.youtube.com/@StevenLemonMusic
https://www.instagram.com/stevenlemonmusic
https://stevenlemon.bandcamp.com