Not sure if you have seen screenshots of the 2.0 alpha.
On one hand, the controls are simplified, so less space is taken by them. But on the other hand, the text for the song names does not scroll - all of it is displayed - and right now it is a little bit smaller.
There may be minor tweaks to the text size, but Now Playing screen is pretty much done.
Not sure if you will like it, but you can always tweak your copy to your needs.