Jay Som – What You Need
Jay Som – the project of Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Melina Duterte – will release Belong, her first new album in over six years, next month.
The album is full of collaborations, including features with Hayley Williams of Paramore, Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins on “Float,” and Lexi Vega of Mini Trees on “Cards On The Table.”
Today she shares another track entitled “What You Need,” which may not have a feature, but highlights the collaborative nature of Belong.
Inspired by a Peter Bjorn and John song that reminded Joao Gonzalez (Soft Glas) of Duterte’s music, “What You Need” was built together by the duo, crafting a track that is as springy yet sad as the lyrics, a tight-rope walk between adoration and annoyance. Addictive on first listen, it’s a subtle wonder of production, too, its layers of drums and curdled synths serving as a platform for the bright guitars that bend through it.
“Joao created and sent me the basic skeleton for ‘What You Need’ a couple hours before the fires in LA started,” Duterte says of the new single. “I remember feeling immediately drawn to it, but the uncertainty and danger we were about to face crept up, pulling our focus elsewhere. We eventually revisited the demo a month later, after witnessing how the people of LA came together in its darkest moments — it felt necessary and only right to create this song with friends.”
Since Jay Som’s critically acclaimed sophomore album Anak Ko came out in 2019, Duterte has spent the last few years cultivating her passion for production and audio engineering. This lead to producing credits on the GRAMMY-winning boygenius album the record, Lucy Dacus’ latest Forever Is A Feeling, and countless beloved indie records. She also joined boygenius as a touring band member, collaborated alongside the likes of Troye Sivan and beabadoobee with No Rome, contributed to the I Saw the TV Glow soundtrack, and more. Yes, Jay Som itself has been on a bit of a break; Duterte, however, has perhaps been busier than ever.
Finally, Jay Som will release her new album Belong on October 10th via Polyvinyl Record Co. While Jay Som has always been a solo project for Duterte, this album finds her expanding her world by collaborating with outside musicians, writers and producers. Duterte wrote, composed, performed, produced, engineered and mixed the record with contributions from Joao Gonzalez (of Soft Glas), Mal Hauser (a collaborator to Mk.gee and Illuminati Hotties), Steph Marziano (producer for Vundabar, Hot Wax, Sir Chloe) and Kyle Pulley, and she also welcomed guest vocalists for the first time. The album finds Duterte searching for her place, or somewhere she belongs, within an indie rock ecosystem that Jay Som stepped away from for the past six years. The result is an album unlike any Jay Som record before it: a gripping 11-song set about self-definition that floats between supercharged power-pop hits and hazy ballads, between electronic curiosities and lighters-up anthems.
Jay Som will embark on her first North American tour in over 5 years this winter.
Tour Dates
11/01 – Amsterdam, NE @ London Calling – Paradiso
11/03 – Berlin, Germany @ Kantine am Berghain
11/05 – Paris, France @ Pitchfork Paris – Le Trabendo
11/06 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique – Rotonde
11/08 – London, UK @ Pitchfork London – Earth Theatre
11/22 – San Francisco, CA @ Bimbos 365 Club ~
11/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey ~
12/02 – Austin, TX @ Brushy Street Commons
12/03 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
12/05 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5
12/06 – Memphis, TN @ Raised By Sound Fest
12/08 – Washington, DC @ Atlantis ~
12/09 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry ~
12/11 – New York, NY @ Warsaw ~
12/12 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall ~
12/13 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ~
12/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line ~
12/19 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos ~
12/20 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater ~
~ w/ Sea Lemon
#jaysomband