And as this first single, "The Bus Song," shows, Jay Som has evolved again - this time with purpose. Now, after accolades for Turn Into yielded a plum opening spot on a tour with Mitski and Japanese Breakfast last year, Duterte is finally preparing to release Jay Som's official album debut, Everybody Works, this March. By self-producing and playing every instrument, Jay Som blends breathless vocal melodies and yearning harmonies, crisp jazz-inflected chord voicings and cathartic eruptions of buzzy distortion into a stirring sound that showcases a multi-faceted musical prowess and a singular viewpoint. Still 22, Duterte has been part of other bands in the Bay Area scene for some time, but her music as Jay Som is wholly her own. That off-the-cuff collection, now known as Turn Into, was reissued in 2016 along with her follow-up single, the not-quite-in-love love song " I Think You're Alright," it documents the Oakland musician's evolution as a songwriter. Encouraged by friends (and maybe some liquid courage), she posted nine "finished and unfinished" songs onto Bandcamp under her recording moniker, Jay Som - a name, concocted via one of those online baby-name generators, that translates to Victory Moon - without much forethought about track sequencing, artwork or anything. The way Melina Duterte tells the story, it was a tipsy, spur-of-the-moment decision over Thanksgiving in 2015.
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