Cover Photo by Andrew Quinn Productions.
Jacob Stelly has been rising up the ladder and making waves lately in the Texas scene. He is another one of those artists out of that region who you can’t slap into a certain genre, but their style is becoming a titan in that area. That doesn’t really matter of course, but what is for certain is that Stelly made a very strong record titled Moondog. He has come a long way since his first release, 2019’s University Heights, and we’re about to dive into his new album and how much he’s grown.
Kicking us off is the opening track, “Make a Little Room for Me.” It opens with a ghostly riff with some great effects right off the bat, then the rhythm section mixes well for a groove about midway through. The overall vibe of this song is just plain pleasing to the ear, making this a personal favorite already. Up next is “Get Busy,” a fun tune with a great melody, but following that is a definite favorite, “Johnny Walker.” Along with fantastic songwriting by Stelly, there is a beachy aesthetic pouring out of this thanks to the riff, which works out very well.
Perhaps one of his most popular songs is the next track, “Burnout.” This one features fellow artist Slade Coulter, which is a perfectly matched duet. Their voices play very well off each other and are also complimented by a nice bluesy guitar solo. The self-reflective “Bad Bad Things” opens with a pleasant acoustic riff and includes interesting instrumentation throughout the entire track. Following that is “Growing Up.” The piano intro is a very nice touch that sets us up for the melody, then we get a chorus that is super effective when it comes to pulling you in. The next three tunes, which include “The Color Blue,” “No One’s Home,” and “High Cost of Living,” really spotlight Stelly’s ever-maturing songwriting. Rounding out the record is a fan-favorite called “Sweet Irene,” which has a killer hook, and then concludes with “Loser.”
Moondog is a solid album and a great addition to Stelly’s discography. For being a relatively new artist, a release like this is very promising and makes us pretty damn excited about what is to come next. Listen to some of the new record below!