The new collection stirs in guitar riffs, banjo, and harmonica into the sound, placing the artist in a bold new genre for this album.

Charlotte’s Lil Skritt has seen many seasons over his more-than-a-decade career of being a performing artist. From the funky style of hip-hop he started from, to a shift toward rock n’ roll with 2021’s Once Before & Now Again, there is a broader vision for the music, as evidenced by his discography, that Skritt wants to create, consciously propelling him forward to experiment in his craft.

As of 2024, the saga continues with his EP follow-up, Lil Skritt, Big City.

Of the four new tracks finally seeing the light of day, each glows with a unique set of qualities that make for repeat listens. “We Get By” is gritty, with the artist harking to a rough lifestyle, minus the complaints one might usually attribute to the day-to-day grind.

“We get by just fine with the things that we get/pack of smokes in my pocket/just get enough to pay the rent/keep it simple/yeah we keep it easy/we get by just fine around here…”

The following two tracks, “Sunshine” and “Sunshine Machine” play into each other slightly, mainly by being a bit opposite of each other.

The lyrics that make up “Sunshine” paint a life and a figure that structures presenting green lawn/picket fence expectations have little effect on. The contrasting actions to shift from what feels like home, whether that’s walking “in a straight line,” or attempting to relocate and start anew, paint a picture of how often leaning into what feels natural to us can be the home and life we needed all along.  

“Sunshine Machine” is a little sadder country rock affair. Playing perfectly into the tropes set by tracks like Alan Jackson’s “Pop a Top”, Skritt invites listeners to the bar for a round, recanting memories of a romance broken while trying to get any bit of relief from the pain.

To cap off the short album, Skritt raises the mood with “Sad, Drunk, and All Alone”, a ditty comprised of a series of stories. Ranging from a scuffle at a country bar, to nights out drinking, only to end up cozy with friends leaning up along an alleyway by the end, it’s a type of “all’s well that ends well” line-up that leaves a bit of hindsight humor with listeners after the song closes out.

“Grow” and “The Moon”, the singles leading up to the album’s release, are not to be left out of listening sessions, even if they were already dialed in several times over in anticipation. “Grow” is a fiery country track that motivates through its lyrics, ending each set of verses off with “If everything were easier/ there’d be no room to grow…” as its final proclamation.

One of the only deviations from the country genre, but also one of the best tracks on the album, “The Moon” is a lovers longing presented in doo-wap fashion that bleeds through its lyrics, touching anyone looking back to those perfect connections broken off way too soon.

The six track set is elevated to new heights in Skritt’s discography by the many hands and voices working hard with the Charlotte local in the EP’s creation. Jesse Hinkleman, aka Jahphomet, assumes many styles and positions over drums through each track, as well as handling the mixing and mastering. Enyophase, Travis Phillips, and Randy Franklin are a powerful trio in much of the instrumentals over the record, with Enyophase on bass, Phillips throwing down with his guitar stylings, and Franklin, along with joining Phillips on guitar, contributes the vital sections of mandolin, harmonica and banjo that set up many of the track’s western settings.

Red Jesse, another constant creative companion of Skritt’s, is also in on the action, providing piano and backup vocals. Finally, Mo Church gets in neck-in-neck with Skritt, singing with him on “Sunshine”, while Amy Leigh comes in for a partial skit, playing the girlfriend that put Skritt in a situation on “Sad, Drunk, and All Alone”.

As a potential first outing into the country and blues genres, Lil Skritt, Big City performs highly, all due to the many veteran hands at work in its creation. The amount of collaboration it took to craft the EP couldn’t have been possible if not for the camaraderie with its players, each a fellow longtime member of Charlotte’s music scene, as well as a friend to the others. Given that, it is no wonder how the short album, clocking in at just under 15 minutes, sounds so well put together from its various parts.

Take a trip with the gang on Lil Skritt’s Lil Skritt, Big City EP, on streaming services as of today. The release show for the album will take place at Snug Harbor on December 20, with support from Modern Moxie and Dead Sea Scrilla.

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