Artist to Look Out For: Jay Som

Los Angeles-based artist Jay Som was born Melina Mae Duterte in Northern California to Filipino immigrant parents. Growing up immersed in music as both a trumpet and guitar player since the age of 12, Duterte had no problem recording and self-releasing music in her bedroom while in community college. The moniker Jay Som comes from an online baby name generator (not unlike how Childish Gambino was birthed.) The name means "Victory Moon."

She put out a collection of songs that were mixed between March 2014-October 2015 called Turn Into via Polyvinyl in 2016 to critical acclaim, receiving an 8.2 score by Pitchfork and continued to gain traction by hopping on tours with Mitski, Japanese Breakfast and Peter Bjorn and John.

Listen to that album here:

"Turn Into"

Her official debut album Everybody Works, was released in 2017, receiving immediate attention from the likes of Pitchfork, NPR, Stereogum, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard and others.

"Baybee"

By 2018 she was releasing more tunes and scored a support slot for The National in Dublin. Jay Som has been grouped into the bedroom pop, lo-fi club, a genre that has in recent years garnered a heavy cult following. Her music is soft, catchy and comforting. Her vocal style reminds me of Georgia from Yo La Tengo which is fitting since the indie band is a huge musical inspiration on the 25-year-old.

She just released her sophomore album Anak Co on August 23rd and offers fans an even more stripped down version of her sound and invited collaborations with people in her music circle like Vagabon, Chastity Belt's Annie Truscott and Boy Scouts' Taylor Vick.

"Tenderness"

There album goes deeper and personal than she has before, even down to the album's title. She told MTV.com:

"I was browsing through my text messages with my mom, and she always greets me in this phrase in Tagalog called 'anak ko,' which is 'my child,'" she said. "Like, 'How are you, anak ko?' It's just this very warming kind of phrase. I thought it was also funny to name an album 'my child' because I've talked to a lot of musicians that view the release of their album as like birthing a child in a funny way, metaphorically speaking."

So with that, we encourage you to listen to Jay Som's albums on repeat and then catch her on tour in support of her new album and get lost in her the sincerity of her music and performance.

Jay Som — 2019 Tour Dates
09/19 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge #$
09/20 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux #$
09/21 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge #$
09/24 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge #$
09/26 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada #$
09/27 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda #$
09/28 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) #$
10/15 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada %#
10/16 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry %#
10/17 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon %#
10/18 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall %#
10/19 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement %#
10/21 – Detroit, MI @ El Club %#
10/22 – Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground %#
10/23 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB %#
10/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere %#
10/26 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair %#
10/27 – Burlington, VT @ ArtsRiot %#
10/29 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry %#
10/30 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel %#
10/31 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings %#
11/01 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Purgatory Stage) %#
11/02 – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt %#
11/07 – Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow (Sky Bar)
11/09 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Bar Brooklyn
11/10 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Ideal Bar
11/12 – Berlin, Germany @ Kantine am Berghain
11/15 – Paris, France @ Supersonic
11/16 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique (Witloof Bar)
11/17 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Bitterzoet
11/19 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
11/20 – London, UK @ The Garage
11/21 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11/22 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange
11/24 – Manchester, UK @ YES (Pink Room)
11/25 – Nottingham, UK @ The Bodega Social Club
11/26 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
11/27 – Dublin, Ireland @ The Workmans Club

# w/ Boy Scouts
$ w/ Affectionately
% w/ Gia Margaret

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Last updated: 28 Mar 2024, 22:14 Etc/UTC