Jay Som returns after 6-year hiatus with new album ‘Belong’
The bedroom-pop artist collaborates with Hayley Williams, Soft Glas, and more on their new album.
Photo: Daniel Topete
California-based bedroom-pop artist Melina Duterte, also known as Jay Som, has returned after a nearly six-year break with their new album Belong. The album’s eleven songs were released by Lucky Number, and include collaborations with artists like Hayley Williams, and mark the beginning of Som’s next tour.
The album culminates in only 33 minutes. Its opener, Cards On The Table, features pop artist Mini Trees. The opening track signals the style of the album as a whole: a more electronic approach to emotional pop music. Mini Trees’ track contains the lines “Blame it on everyone but yourself” and “You give just enough to keep me around.” These lines, and the album as a whole, are refreshing takes on the dark and emotional pop subgenres.
Cards on the Table is followed by Float, a track featuring Jim Adkins. This track lightens up the emotional heaviness of the previous track, showing off Som’s ability to create an impressive variety of sound, all surrounding the same specific subgenres. Float mixes a windows-down, high-vibe intro with similar low vocals and vulnerable lyrics to the previous track; the faster drum beat and lines “Is this the way it’s supposed to be? / Measuring your misery” coexist surprisingly seamlessly.
What You Need, the album’s third track, which features Soft Glas, darkens and slows the backing beat and accompanying synths. The song uses Soft Glas’ delightfully monotone vocals to create a more softly sad track about looking back and learning to move forward without closure. Appointments follows, and immediately takes on a different pace and tone with its acoustic guitar intro. The track gives a sense of peace, serving as both the album’s breath for air and its biggest highlight.
Track five, Drop A, moves easily between the simplistic groove of Appointments and the heavier tracks that make up the second half of the album. Drop A uses some of the album’s best lines, like “I don’t wanna be something without anyone / Can’t stand if something’s pulling us apart”, to express universal feelings of wanting all of the love and attention without any of the potential hurt and anxiety that comes with losing it.
The album’s latest single, Past Lives, which features Paramore’s Hayley Williams, was released on October 7th and takes its place as the sixth track of the album. Williams’ vocals transcend the track, taking up all available space as her voice is layered on top of itself for a harmony that seems to slow down time. Halfway through the track, Som and Williams escalate into all-synchronous mess and rough edges, relating to Williams’ signature sound. The succeeding track, D.H., progresses from this heavier and more complex blueprint to complement some of the album’s more simple and repetitive lyrics.
Casino Stars proves itself as the highlight of the album’s second half. The track draws lines between love and gambling, with lines like “Casino stars won’t quit / I’ve gotta have it all” and “I lost my luck last time” describing second chances and the ups and downs of an unsteady relationship. Casino Stars is followed by Meander/Sprouting Wings, a slow piano track with muffled vocals, reminiscent of a love song coming through an old radio. This track is such a sweet yet spooky highlight to an emotionally heavy album. It’s glitching vocals, combined with the line “I follow you down”, gives the track an intriguingly uneasy feel as the album begins to wind down.
A Million Reasons Why is a shorter and more simple track, encompassing only a few lines, which equate to about a minute of music. This track is one of many on the album that shows Som’s insane range of vocal, musical and emotional style. This time, Som makes the track glow from the inside out with romance and joy. The track gives way to Som’s final song on the album, Want It All, which leaves the listener with a heavier edge. The final track gets fed up with what people say and what they really want, ending a series of tracks that explores a range of so many emotions and sounds, proving talent and creating an album that can last through years and through audiences.
The release of Belong also marks the beginning of Som’s tour, which commences on November 1st in Amsterdam. The tour also includes a stop at Pitchfork London on November 8th. More dates are below.
Belong is out now via Lucky Number.