“Sunshine” By Lucas Jay

To say it’s been a pretty strange year for pop music and the world in general simply wouldn’t be doing it justice, and for evidence proving as much, just check out some of the more eclectic moments that have been dominating the radio for the majority of the last eight months. But even with this being the case, a singer and songwriter by the name of Lucas Jay isn’t letting anything come between his artistry and the audience he wants to satisfy with his cool pop charms in the new single “Sunshine.” Stylish and swaggering but still sporting just enough grittiness to be a true blue crossover funk song at its core, “Sunshine” is a track that offers up a little consistency in some of the more uncertain times I can recall in my lifetime.

The interplay between the vocal, percussion, and bass parts is much stronger than I was expecting it would be, and even as the song presses forward, there’s a lumbering sense of beefiness to the instrumentation that stands in stark contrast with the sort of aesthetical waters Jay was treading in his last two or three singles. What he’s utilizing here has a lot more in common with a rock n’ roll setup than it does anything you’d find in the typical pop-centric recording studio, while the compositional integrities of “Sunshine” feel largely indebted to the classic model over others that immediately come to mind. It’s a hybrid for sure, but not the extreme act of rebelliousness that would lead to longtime fans abandoning Lucas Jay anytime soon – if anything, I think he’s in for some big gains with this release.

There’s so much confidence in Jay’s execution in this single, and whether we’re talking about his fretwork or the electrifying lead vocal that he’s putting at the forefront of the action, his swaggering attitude and laid-back persona are infectious to put it very mildly. “Sunshine,” were it slowed down just a bit and given a more streamlined backbone instead of the elemental pop/rock it’s provided in this setting, would be a lot heavier a dance number than it is here, but it’s the amplified vitality of the band’s volume that makes it a stinger. They’ve got something to share, and rather than muting it behind a lot of useless sonic props, they’re putting it right out there for us to soak up from the jump.

“Sunshine” packs a heck of a lot more punch than I was anticipating as prepared to sit down with the song for the very first time this week, but that could be why it’s my favorite Lucas Jay song to see widespread release so far. He’s giving us everything he’s got in his heart here, and sounding like a legit pop star the entire time, and even though this could be one of the more competitive times in all of live music’s history, he gives us a fair idea of what we can look forward to when he takes the stage. Jay is doing his part to keep pop charismatic, and he has all of my support for it.

Trace Whittaker