Posts Tagged ‘Everybody Works’

JAY SOM – ” Tiny Desk Concert “

Posted: November 29, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Jay Som is the project of 23-year-old Melina Duterte, who has been creating music for the past 10 years or so on a multitude of instruments, from guitar to trumpet. Though she played every instrument on her newest record Everybody Works, her touring band here at the Tiny Desk gave a rougher edge to some of the more premeditated sounds on her wonderful album. Multiple-instrumentalist Melina Duterte (aka Jay Som) rode her production and recording acumen on debut LP, Turn Into, to a deal with indie major label Polyvinyl for Everybody Works.

Of the three songs they chose to bring to the Tiny Desk, one was a personal favorite from Everybody Works: “The Bus Song,” which is a perfect swirl of stream-of-consciousness: In what can only be described as bedroom maximalism, Duterte dug her lyrics into the granular, banalities of existence and aimed her production at expansive soundscapes. On “The Bus Song”, Duterte sings, “I can be whoever I want to be,” and that’s exactly who she is on Everybody Works.

It’s lyrics on this, alongside the comfy, no-frills directness of Duterte’s delivery, which make Jay Som feel so welcoming and refreshing. “Everybody Works” is available now:

Setlist;
“The Bus Song”
“Baybee”
“I Think You’re Alright”

Musicians
Melina Duterte (vocals, guitar); Oliver Pinnell (guitar); Zachary Elsasser (drums); Dylan Allard (bass)

JAY SOM – ” The Bus Song “

Posted: October 26, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Jay Som aka Melina Duterte takes time to figure it out. And with Everybody Works, she’s figured out that bedroom-pop doesn’t have to sound like it was recorded in a bedroom. Jay Som constructs songs with a painterly eye, augmenting her homespun indie with splashes of horns and piano and accordion. Over the course of the LP, billed as her official debut following last year’s Bandcamp release Turn Into, she moves from candy-coated fuzz-pop and slinky funk to subtle synth-pop and experimental soundscapes. “The Bus Song” is taken from Jay Som’s debut full-length, Everybody Works, out now!

If bedrooms are a new sort of laboratory for music, “The Bus Song” transcends those four walls. It is the perfect marriage of isolation and ambition, both in form and function. “I just want you to lead me/I just want you to need me,” sings Melina Duterte as the music crashes, plinks, and soars around her. It’s like being overpowered by a down-filled pillow. In a year of memorable hooks, “The Bus Song”’s is unforgettable.

JAY SOM – ” Everybody Works “

Posted: June 17, 2017 in MUSIC
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Who could criticize Melina Duterte for opting out of enrolling in a jazz conservatory, making a quick study of music production, and instead focusing on her own songwriting.  She may not have a fancy diploma framed on her wall, but she’s got two acclaimed records already under the moniker of Jay Som. 

Duterte is D.I.Y. incarnate, a one-woman band who writes her own songs and plays all the instruments on her Jay Som recordings. With one foot in the bedroom (“Remain”), the other in the garage (“Take It”), and a borrowed limb planted in more experimental terrain (“One More Time, Please”), The album “Everybody Works” showcases a young, multifaceted songwriter who can shift between gritty and vulnerable aesthetics without so much as raising her voice. And when all those elements coalesce, we’re left with a breakup tune like “The Bus Song”, as insightful as it is impossible not to hum between stops

“Lipstick Stains” drifts in and out of focus with washes of acoustic guitar and horns providing ballast to Melina Duterte’s scene-setting sentiment, the word “stains” contrasting with “smile.” Then the album kicks off with what remains my most listened to song of the year so far. I can’t properly articulate just how much the softly-sung “Take your time” does to me; how “Feel like a firefighter when I take off your shoes” and “My sister knows / She says that ghosts are real” evokes nostalgia in me for memories that I didn’t think I held on to. But I can articulate the other stuff, how the instruments come alive to Duterte threatening to cut through the knots, or the effectiveness of the stop-starts throughout.

“But I Like The Bus” remains one of the best musical moments of the year, or how “Why don’t we take the bus? / You say you don’t like the smell” recalls Ricky Roma’s fantastic speech in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, or the sentiment that Duterte enjoys public transit because “I can be whoever I want to be.” Unpretentious and thoroughly enjoyable indie pop/rock; expertly crafted. Nothing on the album comes close to it, even though there are moments: the vulnerable way she sings the vulnerable lyric, “There’s nothing up my sleeves”, on “Remain”; the guitar solo of 1990s love letter, “1 Billion Dogs,” before eventually settling in the bounce of the main hook.

JAY SOM – ” Live from WXPN “

Posted: April 17, 2017 in MUSIC
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Melina Duterte, the main brain behind Jay Som. The Oakland-based artist has been making music on her own for a few years, recently releasing her full-length debut on Polyvinyl, “Everybody Works”. Though all the parts on the album are played by Melina herself, she tours with a full band that features Oliver Pannell on guitar, Dylan Allard on bass and Zachary Elsasser on drums. Taking a short break before a show with The Courtneys, Jay Som dropped by to showcase how the meticulous studio tracks blossom in a live setting.

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Jay Som’s songs end to sneak up on you. Check out the slow-building intro on session opener “Baybee.” On the album, a light keyboard line floats through the R&B-inflected track, but it’s re-imagined as a slick guitar line from Pannell. The intertwining guitar work toward the song’s end betrays the band’s collective love for exploratory groups like Stereolab and Television. Next up is a fan favorite, “The Bus Song.” Again, the interplay between the band members raises the already dynamic track to new highs (and a few dramatic lows). It also marks what might be the very first fake-out ending on an IRHP session track. Closing the session is the meditative “One More Time, Please.” The song doesn’t feature very many lyrics, but it’s a sparse and arresting track nonetheless.

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JAY SOM – ” 1 Billion Dogs “

Posted: April 1, 2017 in MUSIC
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Oakland Songwriter Melina Duterte’s shoegazing rock project. Gusted by a whirlwind of success and critical praise, Melina Duterte’s latest shoegaze-soaked pop project has become part of peak Bandcamp material. Everybody Works is a nimble, comprehensive collection of her influences, ranging from funk-cut synth tunes like “One More Time, Please” and “Baybee,” to indie rock numbers “The Bus Song” and “Everybody Works.” In utmost DIY fashion, Duterte’s work as Jay Som is composed, arranged and produced completely by herself. The Polyvinyl Records release is Jay Som’s proper debut—an intimate, exciting introduction to a blossoming songwriter, producer, and musician

Why to get excited about ‘1 Billion Dogs’ showcases Duterte’s knack for pairing relatable and introspective lyrics with droning, driving guitar lines.

“1 Billion Dogs” is taken from Jay Som’s new album, Everbody Works, out March 10, 2017.

JAY SOM – ” The Bus Song “

Posted: January 16, 2017 in MUSIC
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Dream pop artist Jay Som in the vein of Girls and Smith Westerns with lo-fi drum sound and jangly melodies in-tact. Currently signed with Polyvinyl who are also home to Beach Slang, she’s going to release a full length album next year and should win over avid indie collectors, The Singer finds herself neatly positioned in the Rough Trade recommends section.

Though Jay Som (aka Melina Duterte) has returned to the bedroom where she recorded her debut collection, Turn Into, it’s clear that the Oakland musician has grown in the time since. “The Bus Song,” the first single off her next record “Everybody Works” , is confident and compelling without surrendering any of the atmospheric ambiguity of the previous “Turn Into” . But this boldness does not arrive immediately; instead, “The Bus Song” begins with whispering vocals and similarly delicate guitars. As the track progresses, Duterte grows more assured and piles on intricate layers of trumpet, twinkling piano, and crashing drums, to create a lush conclusion. “The Bus Song” displays Duterte’s ability to take one emotional concept—in this case, two friends sorting out their relationship—and stretch it into a vast network of sensations, conversations, and metaphors. Though her final plea (“Take time to figure it out/I’ll be the one who sticks around/And I just want you to need me/And I just want you to lead me”) soars away into the haze, her determination is unmistakeable.

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Last year was the most thrilling year of my life and I’m grateful for everyone who took time out of their day to listen to my music.
Finally, I am so excited to announce the release of my new album “Everybody Works” – releasing on “Polyvinyl Records March 10th.

The Jay Som band will hit the road with The Courtney’s this Spring for SXSW and a full U.S. and Canada tour