On the heels of her new album, Jay Som is back with two brand new songs, “A Thousand Words” and “Can’t Sleep”. Fans can expect to hear these tracks live very soon, as Jay Som is in the midst of an extensive tour that continues into summer.
Both “A Thousand Words” and “Can’t Sleep” come from the recording sessions that produced Anak Ko, her most recent record and one of the best albums of 2019. The previously unreleased tracks will be available as a physical 7-inch single on May 1st — pre-orders are currently ongoing — but can be streamed early as a treat.
Musically, “A Thousand Words” almost sounds like Jay Som’s take on surf rock. With a lackadaisacle but heady riff, Melina Duterte swims through a sunny melody and lets the guitar waves crash into a flitting synth jingle in the chorus. Fittingly, “Can’t Sleep” takes a different approach, turning up the fuzz for a muted-yet-chaotic pop number that sounds like a warped Tegan and Sara track. Stream both songs below.
In a press release, Jay Som explained the origin stories for both songs. “Apparently A Thousand Words” came about after a year of touring and taking influence from Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Smith, Pavement, and the Supergrass song “Alright”. “I forced myself to make a sort of big and jovial song to bring me out of the funk I was in,” she said. “I also wanted to remind myself that music can be fun!”
Meanwhile, “Can’t Sleep” was written in the fall of 2017 while Duterte was living at home with her parents between tours. “I think I had all my gear packed away somewhere that I couldn’t access, so I used instruments left over in my childhood room: a broken acoustic guitar, chopsticks on a snare drum, a bad hi hat, and my trumpet,” she said. “Everything was recorded through the laptop mic. I was pretty frustrated with the California heat and the fact that I couldn’t record properly, so this sort of fever dream song was born.”
Catch these songs live when Jay Som plays near you on her current tour. She’s on the road in Australia, Europe, and North America to perform both headlining gigs and opening sets for Sharon Van Etten, Julien Baker, and Lazy Day. Find the full list of her tour dates below, and grab tickets to all of her upcoming concerts here.
Jay Som 2020 Tour Dates:
02/20 — Auckland, NZ @ Neck of the Woods
02/21 — Sydney, AU @ Oxford Art Factory
02/22 — Brisbane, AU @ The Foundry
02/23 — Melbourne, AU @ NorthCote Social Club
02/25 — Osaka, JP @ Shangri-La
02/26 — Tokyo, JP @ Club Quattro
02/29 — 03/01 – Jakarta, ID @ Java Jazz Festival
03/17 — Bristol, UK @ The Fleece #
03/18 — Brighton, UK @ Patterns #
03/19 — London, UK @ The Garage #
03/21 — Manchester, UK @ YES #
03/22 — Nottingham, UK @ Bodega Social Club #
03/24 — Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club #
03/25 — Glasgow, UK @ Stereo #
03/26 — Dublin, UK @ The Workman’s Club #
03/28 — Liverpool, UK @ Leaf #
03/29 — Birmingham, UK @ The Sunflower Lounge #
03/31 — Brussels, BE @ Botanique (Witloof Bar)
04/01 — Paris, FR @ Supersonic #
04/03 — Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
04/05 — Stockholm, SE @ Bar Brooklyn
04/06 — Copenhagen, DK @ Ideal Bar
04/07 — Hamburg, DE @ Molotow (Skybar) #
04/08 — Berlin, DE @ Kantine am Berghain #
04/17 — Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live! $
04/18 — Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel $
04/19 — Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theater
04/20 — Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom $
04/22 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium $%
04/24 — New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre $
04/26 — Austin, TX @ Stubb’s $
04/28 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse $
05/09 — Cincinnati, OH @ Homecoming Festival
05/23 — Boston, MA @ Boston Calling
06/04 — Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
06/06 — New York, NY @ Governors Ball Music Festival
06/07 — Los Angeles, CA @ Virgin Festival
# = w/ Lazy Day
$ = w/ Sharon Van Etten
% = w/ Julien Baker
Jay Som Shares New Songs “A Thousand Words” and “Can’t Sleep”: Stream
Nina Corcoran
