Lucky Number Music

Today, Jay Som – the project of Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Melina Duterte – shares another track from Belong, her first new album in over six years, entitled “What You Need”, which highlights the collaborative nature of the record.

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.”

Jay Som – the project of the Los Angeles-based Melina Duterte – today shares “Cards On The Table” the second single from her forthcoming album Belong.

“Cards On The Table” is a tender and revealing slice of electronic pop full of mesmerizing electronic flourishes, gentle hooks and warped vocals (with additional performance from Lexi Vega of Mini Trees) cascading over tessellated drum machines and synths. It follows the release of the album’s lead single “Float (feat. Jim Adkins)”, and complimentary release “A Million Reasons Why”.

Duterte says of the song: “‘Cards On The Table’ is my favorite song on Belong! It’s about the shifting nature of friendships and how devastating conflict can be in platonic relationships when you feel misunderstood by each other. I think it’s a universal experience to navigate that type of dynamic. It feels like a never-ending cycle of people walking in and out of your life, but it ultimately leads to self-discovery and growth.”

Jay Som has also announced her first North American headline tour in over 5 years, following her run supporting Lucy Dacus this Summer. She returns to the UK and Europe in the Autumn, including stops at Pitchfork London and Pitchfork Paris. Check the Jay Som website for all dates and ticket links HERE.

Jay Som – the project of Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Melina Duterte – returns today, announcing her first new album in over six years. 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 led 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, beabadoobee and 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 is back to announce Belong, out 10th October. 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) and Steph Marziano (producer for Bartees Strange, and Cassandra Jenkins). She also welcomed guest vocalists for the first time on one of her albums, featuring Hayley Williams, Jim Adkins (of Jimmy Eat World) and Lexi Vega (of Mini Trees) on different tracks. 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.

Alongside today’s announcement, Jay Som shares two tracks from the record. First is “Float (feat. Jim Adkins)”, plus “A Million Reasons Why”. Duterte grew up with rock radio outside of San Francisco, memorizing the hits of early ’00s pop-punk and emo as a teen. Though she was 400 miles north along the California coast, The O.C. soundtracks—Imogen Heap, Bloc Party, Death Cab for Cutie, and so on—became major touchstones, too. You immediately hear the collision of it all in “Float”, the first song Duterte wrote for Belong.

Duterte says, “This song is about desperately trying to hold on to past versions of yourself for self-preservation. The fear of the unknown is so overwhelming that sometimes the best solution is to sit with it instead of fighting or running from it.”

Adkins adds, “Melina is an absolute professional in all aspects of music creation. I am honoured she had space in her vision for me to contribute. And it was a lot of fun to work on. Great song!”

Listen to “Float” and watch the Nina Ljeti-directed music video, which unintentionally but very serendipitously references the music video for Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle”, below now.

Bachelor—the collaborative project of Palehound’s Ellen Kempner and Jay Som’s Melina Duterte—release their highly-anticipated debut album, Doomin’ Sun, today. With an ominous eye to extreme fandom, the duo has also released their new “Back Of My Hand” video, directed by Ellen Kempner.

The band says: “For the “Back Of My Hand” video, we wanted more than anything to make something fun given the limited time and options available due to the current pandemic. Ultimately deciding to put Ellen in the director’s chair as well as film at her home with a skeleton crew. Our final single is about the dark side of fandom and we wanted to exaggerate that as much as possible in our video concept. When it came to choose an artist to obsess over we quickly chose Harry Styles as we both are truly big fans!”

With early support from the likes of Pitchfork, The New York Times, NME, DIY and more, Doomin’ Sun is a record steeped in friendship. Written and recorded in Topanga, CA over the course of two weeks in January of 2020, pre-pandemic, Doomin’ Sun finds Kempner and Duterte hybridizing their individual songwriting talents, producing a collection that slips between moods with ease and showcases their lyrical prowess. While the album features collaborations with the likes of Big Thief’s Buck Meek and James Krivchenia, as well as Duterte’s partner Annie Truscott of Chastity Belt, the record was largely made by the two musicians in isolation as a fitting precursor to the forthcoming year. Creating the space to explore significant themes from queerness to climate change, the collection also finds Bachelor experiencing pure, unadulterated joy: the kind of joy that can only come from creating, laughing, and having a ridiculous amount of fun with a close friend.

To celebrate the album release they have also announced Doomin’ Sun Fest, a massive, free/donation-based livestream festival + telethon to benefit and uplift Seeding Sovereignty. The festival will take place on June 10 starting at 6pm ET / 11pm BST, and features the likes of Tegan & Sara, Courtney Barnett, Benjamin Gibbard, Sylvan Esso, Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief), Jeff Tweedy, Japanese Breakfast, Julien Baker, Soccer Mommy, Claud and more.

Palehound’s Ellen Kempner and Jay Som’s Melina Duterte recently announced new collaborative project Bachelor and shared their acclaimed first single “Anything At All”. Now, the duo announce their debut album – Doomin’ Sun due out May 28 – alongside brand new track “Stay in the Car” with a music video directed by Haoyan of America, watch below.

On the bass-heavy rock song, the duo paint a yearning portrait of a woman in a supermarket parking lot, a barely-contained desire oozing out of cotidian descriptions like: “She burns out of the market / Plastic bags digging into wrists / Blood stuck in her fingertips.”

Kempner explains, “I wrote the lyrics to ‘Stay In the Car’ back in December of 2019 when I was in Florida for my partner’s top surgery. I had run out one afternoon, post op, while he was healing to grab lunch for us and as I was gathering my stuff in the parking lot, a big car pulled up and this absolutely beautiful woman got out. She was dressed all in red, dripping with jewelry and had the most wild fiery mane I’d ever seen. She was yelling at the man behind the wheel asking him what he wanted from the store and I wished I was that man. I wanted to be a part of her life, her best friend, her driver, whatever she wanted me to be. I was completely mesmerized.” Duterte continues, “We wanted this song to be a visceral listening experience, inspired by The Pixies and The Breeders”.

Kempner and Duterte hybridized their individual songwriting talents, producing a collection that slips between moods with ease and showcases their lyrical prowess. While the album features collaborations with the likes of Big Thief’s Buck Meek and James Krivchenia, as well as Duterte’s partner Annie Truscott of Chastity Belt, the record was largely made by the two musicians in isolation as a fitting precursor to the forthcoming year. Creating the space to explore significant themes from queerness to climate change, the collection also finds Bachelor experiencing pure, unadulterated joy: the kind of joy that can only come from creating, laughing, and having a ridiculous amount of fun with a close friend.

Written and recorded in Topanga, California over the course of two weeks in January of 2020, pre-pandemic, Doomin’ Sun is a record steeped in friendship. Pre-order it now.