Jeff ‘The Fish’ Lefroy – Real Music By Real People (2026)
For years, Jeff ‘The Fish’ Lefroy produced other people’s music, moved from one country to the next, and, through various forces, missed chances to make his own music. On his second album, Real Music by Real People, he focuses on how expression is his guide.
The musicianship on the project reflects endless energy that seeks to express forward momentum. The album’s opener is a soulful tribute to his friend and fellow musician, the late Tony Morrison. ’A Little Less Grey’ booms with Jean Guy Pierozak’s slow thumping bass that follows Lefroy’s grief-filled guitar chords as he leads us through the impact of Morrison’s friendship. Weaving through emotional effects and how he has been changed by his friend, Lefroy comes to his final send-off and clears out the darkness in his spirit to make way for an album about affirming oneself.
But this single focus limits his music’s potential. ’Don’t Blame the Politicians’ follows a rock ability template – hokey pokey and rugged. The bluesy keyboard playing of Bennett Holland brings a righteousness to the song and depth to the rocking rhythm. Lyrically simplistic, the song’s call for accountability is crucial of political music out now.
On ’Emigrant Song’, Matt Cowley’s stampeding drums mesh perfectly with Lefroy’s jagged guitar riffs, symbolising change on the album’s most energetic track. Lefroy goes into his background of constant mobility and, as a result, forever feeling unrooted: “I’m long gone/from where I belong/can’t you hear my emigrant song?” Background vocalist Isabelle Durel shines, pushing the feeling of statelessness with her authoritative voice. The second half is a call to accept outsiders, but the words only hint at the impact of never belonging.
‘Sunset’, ’New Religion’ and ‘We Got To Work It Out’ are tracks for empowerment and vibes. Musical standouts ’Feeling Real Good’ and its remix, though, are expressive children of funk music. The original is a funky glam rock track where Lefroy sings of a change within himself, then we’re teleported to an adventurous Northern Soul-influenced remix with a sonically subterranean experience. But it’s never clear how Lefroy got to feeling so good.
He tries to let the listener in again on ‘The Search for Paradise’: “I set out to find my dreams/but I never got to see/there’s a barrier between us/and the barrier was me”. Nothing further, only hints of what makes Jeff “The Fish” the person he’s been.
On ‘It’s All About You (Valerie)’, we understand more about the frontman through another reflective tribute. The assured but wondrous 90’s pop-rock track is another example of the fulfilment Lefroy seeks to experience. On Real Music by Real People, Jeff ‘The Fish’ Lefroy makes music his soul’s luminary.
Find out more about Jeff ‘The Fish’ Lefroy on his Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
This artist was sent to us by Obsidian PR.
