Kevin Bronson on August 31st, 2022

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Singer-songwriter Timmy Skelly possesses a magnetic take on blue-eyed soul, honed with his college band in St. Louis, the L.A. outfit Retro Bloom (who broke up just before the pandemic) and, after using the lockdown to focus on production, in his ambitious solo project.

The native Midwesterner appeared on Season 19 of “American Idol” (performing with his mom). His band Timmy Skelly & the Polyphonics have held down a residency at Good Times at Davey Wayne’s. And he covers D’Angelo with reverence.

Musically, Skelly’s heart might be on his sleeve. But his forthcoming EP, “T.I.L.M.,” also has substantial tongue in cheek.

It’s a visual EP — six songs, six short films — and Skelly has been rolling them out one at a time. Russell Tandy, who has worked on music videos for the likes of Elohim, Chiild, Gunna, Louis the Child and Fly By Midnight (among others), is the songwriter’s visual collaborator.

Three (available as singles on Bandcamp) have been released so far — “love stories” all. In each, the storytelling is bookended by psychiatric-type interviews with the heartbroken protagonist, portrayed by Skelly.

In the latest, “Come Thru!,” Skelly plays Hinano Moon, who falls head-over-fins with a mermaid (Anisha Brady). In “Scars,” Skelly is Terry Breckenridge, who has a serious thing for a mannequin named Dorothy. And in “Higher Love,” he is Zayne Zodiak, swooning over a very fetching alien named Ophelia (Isabel Hainer).

Skelly says this of “Come Thru!”: “My vision for this was Wes Anderson whimsy and style meets the Coen Brothers’ penchant for the mythical epic. I wanted to capture the essence of the mermaid as the Siren, the alluring witch of the tempestuous seas.”

Like in the other films, his loves are destined to be unrequited. But with their horn-accented ’70s soul music, they could hardly have a better soundtrack.  

||| Watch: The videos for “Come Thru!,” “Higher Love” and “Scars”