{"title":"Jay Som Store","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"jay-som-turn-into","title":"Jay Som - Turn Into","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJay Som\u003c\/strong\u003e represents the musical vision of San Francisco singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist \u003cstrong\u003eMelina Duterte\u003c\/strong\u003e. Constantly shifting, that vision embraces indie, alternative, pop, and even a little shoegaze assembled by its architect’s hand like an infinite puzzle with no border. This unpredictable sonic sensibility is threaded together by melody but never bound to it. \u003cem\u003eTurn Into,\u003c\/em\u003e a collection of finished and unfinished songs written, recorded, and mixed between March 2014-October 2015, offers a snapshot of her musical evolution up to this point.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer self-described “headphone music” is the product of a full musical immersion that began during her childhood in the Bay Area. Born to a DJ dad and singer mom, she spent her formative years studying old cassettes and records as well as performing on the family karaoke machine. She picked up trumpet before eventually teaching herself guitar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuterte started uploading her music to Soundcloud as Jay Som—a moniker she randomly found via an online baby name generator meaning, “Victory Moon.” By 2015, she had accumulated a growing following on Soundcloud and Bandcamp. After a few too many glasses of wine on Thanksgiving, she decided to unveil an early version of \u003cem\u003eTurn Into\u003c\/em\u003e online, performing every instrument—guitar, bass, keys, and drums.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSigning to Polyvinyl Records, \u003cem\u003eTurn Into\u003c\/em\u003e gets a proper release in 2016. Its first single “Ghost” simultaneously haunts and hypnotizes as her voice hums a shimmering harmony punctuated by fits of fuzzed-out six-string emotion, acoustic unease, and poignant personal lyricism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElsewhere, “Why I Say No” rides the crest of a surf guitar swell, while a whimsical and wild guitar lead jostles “Next To Me.” The distorted trudge of “Drown” beckons, while the title track offers a sun-soaked send-off.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2016 also saw her release a one-off 7-inch of “I Think You’re Alright” and “Rush” on Fat Possum Records in addition to embarking on her first proper tour with Mitski and Japanese Breakfast. Next up, Duterte will release her official full-length debut album for Polyvinyl in 2017, further welcoming listeners into her vision.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl (Light Blue)","offer_id":50775271670067,"sku":"PRC-326LP","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50818978382131,"sku":"PRC-326CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape (Pink)","offer_id":53418489643315,"sku":"PRC-326TAPE","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":50818978513203,"sku":"PRC-326DIGITAL","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/1dc1215caa64445eabe2699cbef2ce7b1d6ccb0b_3c3360ae6f6d0a6b5b0dbfe829b060773afc201a_photo_jpg.jpg?v=1735838695"},{"product_id":"jay-som-everybody-works","title":"Jay Som - Everybody Works","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn her first proper album as \u003cstrong\u003eJay Som\u003c\/strong\u003e, Melina Duterte, 22, solidifies her rep as a self-made force of sonic splendor and emotional might. If last year's aptly named \u003ci\u003eTurn Into\u003c\/i\u003e compilation showcased a fuzz-loving artist in flux—chronicling her mission to master bedroom recording—then the rising Oakland star's latest, \u003ci\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/i\u003e, is the LP equivalent of mission accomplished.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuterte is as DIY as ever—writing, recording, playing, and producing every sound beyond a few backing vocals—but she takes us places we never could have imagined, wedding lo-fi rock to hi-fi home orchestration, and weaving evocative autobiographical poetry into energetic punk, electrified folk, and dreamy alt-funk.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd while Duterte's early stuff found her bucking against life's lows, \u003ci\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/i\u003e is about turning that angst into fuel for forging ahead. \"Last time I was angry at the world,\" she says. \"This is a note to myself: everybody's trying their best on their own set of problems and goals. We're all working for something.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/i\u003e was made in three furious, caffeinated weeks in October. She came home from the road, moved into a new apartment, set up her bedroom studio (with room for a bed this time) and dove in. Duterte even ditched most of her demos, writing half the LP on the spot and making lushly composed pieces like \"Lipstick Stains\" all the more impressive. While the guitar-grinding Jay Som we first fell in love with still reigns on shoegazey shredders like \"1 Billion Dogs\" and in the melodic distortions of \"Take It,\" we also get the sublimely spacious synth-pop beauty of \"Remain,\" and the luxe, proggy funk of \"One More Time, Please.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuterte's production approach was inspired by the complexity of Tame Impala, the simplicity of Yo La Tengo, and the messiness of Pixies. \"Also, I was listening to a lot of Carly Rae Jepsen to be quite honest,\" she says. \"Her \u003ci\u003eE•MO•TION\u003c\/i\u003e album actually inspired a lot of the sounds on \u003ci\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/i\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere's story in the sounds—even in the fact that Duterte's voice is more present than before. As for the lyrics, our host leaves the meaning to us. So if we can interpret, there's a bit about the aspirational and fleeting nature of love in the opener, and the oddity of turning your art into job on the titular track. There's even one tune, \"The Bus Song,\" that seems to be written as a dialog between two kids, although it plays like vintage Broken Social Scene and likely has more to do with yearning for things out of reach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile there's no obvious politics here, Duterte says witnessing the challenges facing women, people of color, and the queer community lit a fire. And when you reach the end of \u003ci\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/i\u003e, \"For Light,\" you'll find a mantra suitable for anyone trying, as Duterte says, \"to find your peace even if it's not perfect.\" As her trusty trumpet blows, she sings: \"I'll be right on time, open blinds for light, won't forget to climb.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl (Orange)","offer_id":50818990407987,"sku":"PRC-329LP","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50818990440755,"sku":"PRC-329CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape","offer_id":53418487251251,"sku":"PRC-329TAPE","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":50818990539059,"sku":"PRC-329DIGITAL","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Vinyl (Black) – SOLD OUT","offer_id":53418487218483,"sku":"MISC","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/eaf6d7614478e5626c2d3786eb04a24a74fd0a80_2c8f677c18c322fa43e46305da4530415d09b275_photo_jpg.jpg?v=1735838712"},{"product_id":"jay-som-wagon-enamel-pin","title":"Jay Som - Wagon Enamel Pin","description":"\u003cp\u003eSoft enamel pin with rubber clutch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDesigned by \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.fayeorlove.com\"\u003eFaye Orlove\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Accessories","offers":[{"title":"1.5\" Wide","offer_id":50774507159859,"sku":"PRC-PIN726","price":4.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/93b71ff0836bb95466a9de7aaa34de09_86fec0de198eb7920b560f88d31a3904f7a929a6_product_photo.jpg?v=1735838719"},{"product_id":"justus-proffit-jay-som-nothings-changed","title":"Justus Proffit \u0026 Jay Som - Nothing's Changed","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere’s a little bit of everything -- garage rock, country twang, art pop -- on the five songs that comprise \u003cem\u003eNothing’s Changed\u003c\/em\u003e, a record showcasing the burgeoning collaboration between \u003cstrong\u003eJustus Proffit\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eJay Som\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFollowing the release of her debut full-length as Jay Som (2017’s \u003cem\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/em\u003e -- an album that landed on just about every “Best of” list imaginable) multi-instrumentalist Melina Duterte re-located from California’s Bay Area to Los Angeles, where she soon found a kindred spirit in rising singer-songwriter Justus Proffit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThough they had never played together before, when Proffit heard Duterte had moved to town, he reached out to see if she wanted to record a track for fun.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith no real serious intentions, the two began by taking a riff, melody, or drum beat and then building around it whatever impulsive idea came to mind. Quickly, though, these ideas began to snowball, and before long the pair had several finished tracks that they were eager to share.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving recorded all her own material to-date, Duterte oversaw tracking and mixing in her home studio (in addition to playing bass and keyboard), while Proffit handled lyrics and drums. Together, they shared guitar and vocal duties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSays Duterte, “I think we both challenged each other with each song, forcing ourselves to either stick to an idea or move on, and accept mistakes.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl 12\" EP (180-Gram Light Pink)","offer_id":50888633254195,"sku":"PRC-366LP","price":13.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":52708196122931,"sku":"PRC-366DIGITAL","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/Nothings-Changed_LP_Pink_2000.jpg?v=1746218724"},{"product_id":"jay-som-anak-ko","title":"Jay Som - Anak Ko","description":"\u003cp\u003eMelina Duterte is a master of voice: Hers are dream pop songs that hint at a universe of her own creation. Recording as \u003cstrong\u003eJay Som\u003c\/strong\u003e since 2015, Duterte’s world of shy, swirling intimacies always contains a disarming ease, a sky-bent sparkle and a grounding indie-rock humility. In an era of burnout, the title track of her 2017 breakout, \u003ci\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/i\u003e, remains a balm and an anthem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuterte’s life became a whirlwind in the wake of \u003ci\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/i\u003e. After spending her teen years and early 20s exploring an eclectic array of musical styles—studying jazz trumpet as a child, carrying on her Filipino family tradition of spirited karaoke, and quietly recording indie-pop songs in her bedroom alone—that accomplished album found her playing festivals around the world, sharing stages with the likes of Paramore, Death Cab for Cutie, and Mitski.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn November of 2017, seeking a new environment, Duterte left her home of the Bay Area for Los Angeles. There, she demoed new songs, while also embracing opportunities to do session work and produce, engineer, and mix for other artists (like Sasami, Chastity Belt). Reckoning with the relative instability of musicianhood, Duterte turned inward, tuning ever deeper into her own emotions and desires as a way of staying centered through huge changes. She found a community; she fell in love. And for an artist whose career began after releasing her earliest collection of demos—2015's hazy but exquisitely crafted \u003ci\u003eTurn Into\u003c\/i\u003e—in a fit of drunken confidence on Thanksgiving night, she finally quit drinking for good. “I feel like a completely different person,” she reflects. Positivity was a way forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe striking clarity of her new music reflects that shift. After months of poring over pools of demos, Duterte, now 25, essentially started over. She wrote most of her brilliant new album, \u003ci\u003eAnak Ko\u003c\/i\u003e—pronounced Anuhk-Ko—in a burst during a self-imposed week-long solo retreat to Joshua Tree. As in the past, Duterte recorded at home (in some songs, you can hear the washer\/dryer near her bedroom) and remained the sole producer, engineer, and mixer. But for the first time, she recruited friends—including \u003cstrong\u003eVagabon\u003c\/strong\u003e’s Laetitia Tamko,\u003cstrong\u003e Chastity Belt\u003c\/strong\u003e’s Annie Truscott, \u003cstrong\u003eJustus Proffit\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eBoy Scouts\u003c\/strong\u003e’ Taylor Vick, as well as bandmates Zachary Elasser, Oliver Pinnell and Dylan Allard—to contribute additional vocals, drums, guitars, strings, and pedal steel. Honing in on simplicity and groove, refining her skills as a producer, Duterte cracked her sound open subtly, highlighting its best parts: She’s bloomed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspired by the lush, poppy sounds of 80s bands such as Prefab Sprout, the Cure, and Cocteau Twins—as well as the ecstatic guitarwork of contemporary Vancouver band Weed—\u003ci\u003eAnak Ko\u003c\/i\u003e sounds dazzlingly tactile, and firmly present. The result is a refreshingly precise sound. On the subtly explosive “Superbike,” Duterte aimed for the genius combination of “Cocteau Twins and Alanis Morissette”—“letting loose,” she says, over swirling shoegaze. “Night Time Drive” is a restless road song, but one with a sense of contentedness and composure, which “basically encapsulated my entire life for the past two years,” she says—always moving, but “accepting it, being a little stronger from it.” (She sings, memorably, of “shoplifting at the Whole Foods.”) Duterte focused more on bass this time: “I just wanted to make a more groovy record,” she notes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe slow-burning highlight “Tenderness” begins minimally, like a slightly muffled phone call, before flowering into a bright, jazzy earworm. Duterte calls it “a feel-good, funky, kind of sexy song” in part about “the curse of social media” and how it complicates relationships. “That’s definitely about scrolling on your phone and seeing a person and it just haunts you, you can’t escape it,” Duterte says. “I have a weird relationship to social media and how people perceive me—as this person that has a platform, as a solo artist, and this marginalized person. That was really getting to me. I wanted to express those emotions, but I felt stifled. I feel like a lot of the themes of the songs stemmed from bottled up emotions, frustration with yourself, and acceptance.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title, \u003ci\u003eAnak Ko,\u003c\/i\u003e means “my child\" in Tagalog, one of the native dialects in the Philippines. It was inspired by an unassuming text message from Duterte’s mother, who has always addressed her as such: Hi anak ko, I love you anak ko. “It’s an endearing thing to say, it feels comfortable,” Duterte reflects, likening the process of creating and releasing an album, too, to “birthing a child.” That sense of care charges \u003ci\u003eAnak Ko\u003c\/i\u003e, as does another concept Duterte has found herself circling back to: the importance of patience and kindness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In order to change, you’ve got to make so many mistakes,” Duterte says, reflecting on her recent growth as an artist with a zen-like calm. “What’s helped me is forcing myself to be even more peaceful and kind with myself and others. You can get so caught up in attention, and the monetary value of being a musician, that you can forget to be humble. You can learn more from humility than the flashy stuff. I want kindness in my life. Kindness is the most important thing for this job, and empathy.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCover Artwork by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mariamedem\"\u003eMaría Medem\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl (Purple)","offer_id":50818996273459,"sku":"PRC-390LP","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50818996306227,"sku":"PRC-390CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape (Red)","offer_id":50818996404531,"sku":"PRC-390TAPE","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":50818996470067,"sku":"PRC-390DIGITAL","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/e190ae03e1b0ce4c39be8d646852af3cdd67d781_3f89ef8e3d976e6fcfe25d9630c286e309b9027e_photo_jpg.jpg?v=1735838723"},{"product_id":"melina-duterte-mugshots-melina-duterte-jay-som","title":"Melina Duterte - Mugshots: Melina Duterte (Jay Som)","description":"\u003cp\u003e Have you always wanted to grab a drink with your favorite Polyvinyl musician? Well, now you can, thanks to our \"\u003ca href=\"\/store\/mugshots\"\u003eMugshots\u003c\/a\u003e\" series!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e 10% of proceeds donated to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.raicestexas.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eRAICES\u003c\/a\u003e (charity chosen by Melina Duterte).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Full-color artwork by Brooklyn-based illustrator \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/laurasupnik\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-color: initial;\"\u003eLaura Supnik\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Accessories","offers":[{"title":"11 oz.","offer_id":50774487236915,"sku":"PRC-MUG921","price":7.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/b4eb391ccdb1a22629fbf8a3b7950cb9_db23534241aa5cd481916b1491fff46699fa9ea1_product_photo.jpg?v=1735838728"},{"product_id":"jay-som-a-thousand-words","title":"Jay Som - A Thousand Words","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing the release of \u003cstrong\u003eJay Som\u003c\/strong\u003e’s critically acclaimed sophomore album, \u003cem\u003eAnak Ko\u003c\/em\u003e (2019), the band’s creative force, Melina Duterte, is already back with 2 beautiful new songs. “A Thousand Words” and “Can’t Sleep” both give listeners a crystal clear reminder as to what made Jay Som one of the most popular indie acts of the last few years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"'A Thousand Words' was made after a year of extensive touring plus a cancelled tour,\" explains Duterte. \"I forced myself to make a sort of big and jovial song to bring me out of the funk I was in - I also wanted to remind myself that music can be fun!. Heavily inspired by Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Smith, Pavement and that song 'Alright' by Supergrass.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003chr\u003e\u003cp\u003eArtwork by María Medem ( \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mariamedem\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eInstagram\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/mariamedem.tumblr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTumblr\u003c\/a\u003e )\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"7\" (Clear Blue)","offer_id":50776229183795,"sku":"PRC-404-7","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":52708194648371,"sku":"PRC-404DIGITAL","price":2.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/1357bcf2d4321bb322e9ae46a462ef4a_94706019014a271dcadcab5cb78d3ef5b425ffa9_product_photo.jpg?v=1735838735"},{"product_id":"melina-duterte-melina-duterte-jay-som-art-print-8-x10","title":"Melina Duterte - Melina Duterte (Jay Som) Art Print (8x10)","description":"\u003cp\u003e 8\"x10\" print of Melina Duterte from our \"\u003ca href=\"\/store\/mugshots\"\u003eMugshots\u003c\/a\u003e\" series!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Full-color artwork by Brooklyn-based illustrator \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/laurasupnik\/\"\u003eLaura Supnik\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Shipped flat - will not be folded or rolled in a tube. Frame not included.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e10% of proceeds donated to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.raicestexas.org\/about\/\"\u003eRAICES\u003c\/a\u003e (charity chosen by Melina Duterte).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Accessories","offers":[{"title":"8\" x 10\"","offer_id":50776287379763,"sku":"PRC-ART947","price":7.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/e86c39706a2a5033ed14f935353f015e_642ba77a2c0f49ef8ef17f31c400322b5cfeaf23_product_photo.jpg?v=1735838729"},{"product_id":"jay-som-anak-ko-puzzle","title":"Jay Som - Anak Ko Puzzle","description":"\u003cp\u003e100-piece 12\" x 12\" jigsaw puzzle featuring the artwork of \u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(250,250,250); color: rgba(0,0,0,0.87);\"\u003eMaría Medem\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Accessories","offers":[{"title":"12\" x 12\"","offer_id":50774646489395,"sku":"PRC-PZZL972","price":18.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/d3b2d58a164cd863e45cdb0f64b5c1f348a84964_bf416d34b0b1d92e58bf29463184d54dc156b8c7_photo_jpg.jpg?v=1735838745"},{"product_id":"routine-and-other-things","title":"Routine - And Other Things","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., \u003cstrong\u003eChastity Belt\u003c\/strong\u003e’s Annie Truscott descended into a state of mourning. Her plan had been to join her partner, \u003cstrong\u003eJay Som\u003c\/strong\u003e’s Melina Duterte, as violinist on tour, a privilege rarely afforded since both maintain busy road schedules, and for Truscott, the prospect of spending most of the year in a van wasn’t met with exhaustion so much as exhilaration. At long last, she’d be making a living playing music, no side hustle needed. The cancellation of the tour represented a sidelined dream. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRoutine\u003c\/strong\u003e was born of this disappointment. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, Truscott and Duterte’s collaborative project offers a glimpse of the creative possibilities that can emerge from a state of defeat. Written and recorded over the course of a month in Joshua Tree, Routine’s lush debut EP \u003ci\u003eAnd Other Things\u003c\/i\u003e finds the couple trying on new roles. Truscott, who plays bass in Chastity Belt, wrote the bulk of the material and sings on the EP, while Duterte, normally a band leader, used the project as an opportunity to, in her words, “Take the backseat,” as accompanist, producer, and engineer. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuterte describes the making of the EP as “seamless.” In the mornings, Truscott sat outside of the cabin in the not-yet-blazing sun and worked out chord progressions on guitar while Duterte slept in. Staring out at the horizon, Truscott could see a smattering of houses and the sharp outline of a mountain range, but overall the property felt remote, far removed from home in Los Angeles. On long walks Truscott admired the recently bloomed spring flowers and pondered the legacy of friendships and experiences that made her. “I spend a lot of my time thinking about the people who’ve impacted my life,” she says. “Routine gave me an opportunity to explore those relationships through music.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt was on one of these walks that Truscott began writing “Cady Road,” a contemplative, country-tinged pop song that urges listeners to sit in the discomfort of the present moment. “Relax\/ It’s fine\/ You don’t have to know this time,” Truscott sings on the chorus, reflecting on the unsuredness that gripped her in those early days of the pandemic. Duterte joins in harmony, giving a song about being alone with your thoughts a collaborative dimension. “In Annie’s songs I hear a yearning for something just out of reach, something unachievable,” Duterte says. “She’s such a great singer, so it felt good to just layer instruments to make her vision for it feel fully fleshed out.” That impulse is heard vividly on “Cady Road,”where an abundant arrangement accompanies Truscott, replete with the spry notes of a banjolele. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA true collaboration requires trust, intimacy, and patience, three elements that cohered almost mystically in the process of making this EP. “Melina is the most calming presence. She’s so good at sitting with silences in a conversation and just observing,” Truscott says. The quality not only makes Duterte a good partner, but also a good bandmate and producer. “Calm and Collected” is a tribute to that enviable ability to maintain serenity amidst the chaos of experience. Though it was written in Joshua Tree, Duterte and Truscott recorded it in the attic of their home in LA, where Duterte set up a studio in the free time afforded by the pandemic. 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Kempner’s arid lead vocals are punctuated by Duterte’s spry harmonies, lending the track a rare dynamism that could only mean one thing: they had to write an album together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn January of 2020, the duo packed the entirety of Duterte’s recording equipment into two cars and headed to a rental house in Topanga, CA where over the course of two weeks, they wrote and recorded their debut album \u003ci\u003eDoomin’ Sun\u003c\/i\u003e. The house had a living room with a baby grand piano in it which they turned into a live room by pushing all the furniture against the walls and setting up drums and amps. The ad hoc studio set up offered the comfort required for ideas to flow freely, uninhibited by any preordained schedule.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this space, Kempner and Duterte hybridized their individual songwriting talents, producing a collection that slips between moods with ease and showcases their lyrical prowess. On the bass-heavy rock song “Stay in the Car,” the duo paint a yearning portrait of a woman in a supermarket parking lot, a barely-contained desire oozing out of quotidian descriptions like: “She burns out of the market\/ Plastic bags digging into wrists\/ Blood stuck in her fingertips.” The heavy bass makes another appearance on “Anything At All,” a track with a chorus so playful it could be a schoolyard taunt, defying the darker lyrical themes heard on the verses.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA typical day at the house in Topanga consisted of the two late-sleepers slumping down to the kitchen at around 11AM to drink canned ice teas and make lunch before they started messing around with instruments, crafting pitch riffs and chord progressions. After Kempner and Duterte sussed the form of the song and tracked the basics, they’d spend a couple of hours apart. During that time, Kempner wrote lyrics in the backyard treehouse while Duterte worked her producer magic, or Duterte wrote lyrics on the back patio while Kempner came up with guitar parts. When they regrouped, the duo shared what they’d worked on, made dinner, and watched an unreasonable amount of TV for the rest of the night.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbout halfway through their stay in Topanga, Buck Meek and James Krivchenia of Big Thief came by the house. Meek brought guitar pedals and a beautiful old Martin acoustic to generously lend to the project, and Krivchenia elevated a few of the songs by tracking drums while Duterte’s partner Annie Truscott (Chastity Belt) recorded strings to accentuate moments on the album. Aside from those contributions, Kempner and Duterte spent most of their time in isolation, a fitting precursor to the remainder of the year, but the songs on \u003ci\u003eDoomin’ Sun\u003c\/i\u003e are anything but isolating. These songs tell stories that will surely be recognizable to listeners, especially when they offer up interpretations of modern life. “Drivin’ on to the next town\/ Keeping the rubber side down\/ But the danger is in my phone\/ And the drug of an endless scroll,” Kempner sings on the downcast, country-inflected “Sick of Spiraling.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKempner and Duterte had arrived in Topanga with no songs written and no solid plan, but after two short weeks, they had finished the 10 songs that make up \u003ci\u003eDoomin’ Sun\u003c\/i\u003e. That much work in so little time may sound exhausting, but it wasn’t, it was blissful and freeing. On the album’s powerful opener, “Back of My Hand,” it’s possible to hear echoes of Bachelor’s foundation in the opening verse, “I’m your biggest fan\/ Got your song in my head\/ And your poster’s above my bed,” but the song soon hits a more sinister register as it goes on, “You date the beauty queens\/ I see their bodies in magazines\/ Sharp jaw size 0 jeans\/ I skip a meal\/ I drink some tea.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere was a lot of pain that went into the record, especially around themes of queerness and climate change inspired by the red skies and wildfires subsuming Australia at the time. However, when the duo did shed tears during the creative process, they weren’t tears of sadness, they were tears of laughter. When Kempner and Duterte look back on those weeks, what they remember first is shortness of breath and the inability to track vocal takes without falling to the floor howling. They couldn’t remember a time they’d ever been so delirious with creativity, so overwhelmed with joy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003eAll songs written, arranged, and performed by Melina Duterte and Ellen Kempner.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003eProduced, engineered, and mixed by Melina Duterte and Ellen Kempner in Topanga, CA.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003eDrums on “Went Out Without You”, “Sick of Spiraling”, and “Aurora” by James Krivchenia.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003eStrings by Annie Truscott.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003eMastered by Heba Kadry.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003eArt and design by Chris Chew (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/chris__chew\/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003e\u003cu\u003eInstagram\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003e).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003eLayout design by Mikaela Jane (CD\/Tape) (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mikaelajane\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003e\u003cu\u003eInstagram\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:hsl(0,75%,60%);\"\u003e).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003c\/blockquote\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl (Goldenrod)","offer_id":50818998305075,"sku":"PRC-429LP","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50818998337843,"sku":"PRC-429CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape (Goldenrod)","offer_id":50818998370611,"sku":"PRC-429TAPE","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":52708192518451,"sku":"PRC-429DIGITAL","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/f307102983c3dc5160ba238d50add6a5a56a1cf9_35f3e80b20ff9b5e961dbb17e5959e94a648c3a0_photo_jpg.jpg?v=1735838762"},{"product_id":"jay-som-pirouette","title":"Jay Som - Pirouette","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePirouette\u003c\/em\u003e features two never-before-released songs recorded during the same sessions as \u003cstrong\u003eJay Som\u003c\/strong\u003e's breakout debut \u003ci style=\"background-color: initial;\"\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/i\u003e, which landed on Best of 2017 lists from Pitchfork, NPR, Stereogum, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, and a slew of others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMusically, these tracks would have been equally at home on that record, as they highlight how Melina Duterte has \"perfected that tricky balance between polished ambition and lo-fi charm.\" (Pitchfork).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-------\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Both of these tracks were made during the spring of 2016 - the first demo stages for \u003cem\u003eEverybody Works\u003c\/em\u003e. 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Duterte still wrote and produced that Jay Som record, but her friends now surrounded her, playing parts of their own. But when a shuttered touring industry scrapped Jay Som’s ambitious 2020 plans, Duterte realized she had long needed a reset from the road after several years of constant pivots between touring and writing, anyway. She decided to splurge on herself and her lifelong interest in recording, funneling her government stimulus check into a piece of dream gear she’d repeatedly seen advertised—a vintage Neve console. She committed herself to manuals and online tutorials, peppering experienced friends with questions about becoming more than her own home-recording engineer. Five years later, she’s got a rich résumé of album credits, guest spots alongside the likes of Troye Sivan and beabadoobee, the centerpiece of the \u003cem\u003eI Saw the TV Glow\u003c\/em\u003e soundtrack, and a Grammy for her work on \u003cem\u003eThe Record\u003c\/em\u003e by boygenius, the band she subsequently joined as a touring member. Yes, Jay Som itself has been on a bit of a break; Duterte, however, has perhaps been busier than ever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Duterte reckoned the time had come to revisit Jay Som, she did not pretend to be hidebound by the project’s past. Instead, she let the half-decade of life she’d lived and work she’d done since releasing \u003cem\u003eAnak Ko\u003c\/em\u003e filter not only into her songs but also her process. The new friends she’d actually had time to make in Los Angeles now that she was off the road—especially Joao Gonzalez (of Soft Glas) and Mal Hauser (a collaborator to Mk.gee and Illuminati Hotties)—became key partners, as Duterte opened her music to others like never before. But she also opened up her music to herself and her memories, writing songs that revisited the sounds of her youth with the benefit of her experiences as a musician, producer, and performer. She was neither shy about her influences nor limited about where they might lead her. And so no previous Jay Som album sounds quite like the new \u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e, a gripping 11-song set about self-definition and, well, belonging, that floats between supercharged power-pop hits and hazy ballads, between electronic curiosities and lighters-up anthems. It is a map of the first 31 years of Duterte’s life, all leading to the present that is \u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“When you try something for the first time, you’re always going to hold some type of fear, but I had to come to terms with the fact that I had to let go of some control,” she explains. “This record is essentially still me, but a lot of choices were made by friends who helped me, because I trusted them.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuterte grew up with rock radio outside of San Francisco, memorizing the hits of early ’00s pop-punk and emo as a teen. Though she was 400 miles north along the California coast, The O.C. soundtracks—Imogen Heap, Bloc Party, Death Cab for Cutie, and so on—became major touchstones, too. You immediately hear the collision of it all in “Float,” the first song Duterte wrote for \u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e. She was experimenting with the vocal synths that still frame the intro when a melody spilled out, inspiring the riff that soon slashes between those sampled synths and the buoyant beat. A top-down radio wonder, its massive chorus—“Float, don’t fight\/I’m not the same”—documents the toggle between pressing into the unknown and trying the unexpected or staying still and doing what you have always done in a push to stay safe and sane. Fittingly, that is Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins, one of those childhood heroes, offering background vocals; that’s a first for a Jay Som album, as Duterte pulls past and future toward an explosive present. Duterte grins unabashedly at her adolescent impulses, too, during “Casino Stars,” a lusty bit of acoustic emo about betting everything on love and trusting that this time you leave a winner. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I turned 30 while I was making this record. There is a portion of your 20s about being cool and hip and who can come up with the craziest ideas,” says Duterte, who also began her longest relationship ever while recording \u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e. (The new couple even adopted a dog.) “But as I’ve gotten older, I am more nostalgic about the music I experienced and want to relive that—by being inspired by that music.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose aren’t, of course, the only references she brandishes. Where “D.H.” bops like a prime piece of garage-rock smeared with the stain of, say, Sonic Youth, “Appointments” is a beautiful waltz between the sad-eyed wonder of Elliott Smith and the twilit glow of Phoebe Bridgers. Despite those kinships, it is a deeply personal reflection on rejection, acceptance, and imposter syndrome, or the realization that, even as we allegedly become good at something, we’re still capable of flaws and fears. “Missed your appointment\/Your head on my lap,” she sings softly over chiming guitars as the second verse begins. “Changed your phone background\/Smiling again.” It’s about finding a way to make it through these hangups, about enduring. In a way, all of \u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e’s songs carry that implicit message—if you can’t embrace the sounds of your heroes to sort through your own mess, what are you doing, anyway?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e, though, isn’t just Duterte’s record. Many of these songs emerged from relationships rooted in friendship first, collaboration second. Duterte and Gonzalez, for instance, became true pals only after she stopped touring so hard. When he brought her a sample early in the writing process, telling her it reminded him of Jay Som, she immediately agreed, the stuttering rhythm inspiring the melody that became “What You Need.” They built the song together, eventually moving beyond a beat borrowed from “Young Folks” to something that is as springy yet sad as the lyrics, a tight-rope walk between adoration and annoyance. Addictive on first listen, it’s a subtle wonder of production, too, its layers of drums and curdled synths serving as a platform for the bright guitars that bend through it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough Duterte has never been one for special guests on Jay Som’s intimate records, Hayley Williams had insisted on singing together at some point since the band opened for Paramore in 2018. So Duterte and Steph Marziano—another new friend who has written with Bartees Strange and Cassandra Jenkins and who began working and hanging with Duterte after Williams introduced them—went to Nashville to try a song together. Williams’ soft harmonies on the arcing “Past Lives” reinforce its forlorn sense of drifting in and out of doldrums, of finding momentum only to watch it fade. It is a powerhouse of a tune, its downshifted midsection landing like a fistfight with oneself. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd while Duterte’s production credits have mounted spectacularly since 2020, she knows enough to know she might not always know best. As she neared the end of \u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e, she went to Philadelphia’s Headroom Studios, where producer Kyle Pulley told her that, simply as a Jay Som fan, he wanted to hear more of her. This became her first time working with another producer on Jay Som, yet another sign of her opening the band to others’ ideas. You can detect that insight and burgeoning conviction from the very first notes she sings on opener “Cards On The Table,” a brilliant piece of electronic pop where her warped voice cascades over tessellated drum machines and synths. (By the way, that’s Lexi Vega, of Mini Trees, offering harmonies; again, she, Williams, and Adkins are Jay Som’s first-ever guest vocalists, representing Duterte’s push to try new things with people she trusts.) The track is a pronouncement of renewed intentions for Jay Som, running from those first notes through the underwater experimentation of “Meander” and to the wall of noise and field recordings that end the finale, “Want It All.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough “Want It All” is the capstone for \u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e, it is also the thesis, the moment where Duterte makes the push and pull she feels in her life and career right now abundantly clear. For the better part of six years, she mostly checked out of Jay Som, cultivating and tending to the other side of her artistry. Now that she has returned to the band itself, she wonders where she belongs within an indie rock ecosystem, or how much of the rest of her life and work she is willing to give up to live up to that role. This is why she named these songs \u003cem\u003eBelong\u003c\/em\u003e, after all, as she tries to figure out where she fits into the wider world as an artist, producer, and person. “Do you really want to go? Will you hate what you will find?” she sings near the start of that title track, built on a seesaw of repetition. Duterte doesn’t know the answer yet, how she balances being an acclaimed and in-demand producer with being a proper bandleader, too. She just knows that Jay Som is back, invigorated by more ideas, experiences, and inputs than it’s ever enjoyed before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003eAll songs written, composed, and performed by Melina Duterte, Joao Gonzalez, Mal Hauser, Steph Marziano, and Madden Klass\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003eProduced by Melina Duterte, Joao Gonzalez, Kyle Pulley, Mal Hauser, and Steph Marziano\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003eRecorded at EMA Studios in Los Angeles CA, Headroom Studios in Philadelphia PA, and Klass Drums in Los Angeles CA\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003eEngineered by Melina Duterte, Kyle Pulley, Steph Marziano, and Johanna Baumann\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003eAssistant Engineering by Theo Cobb, Meredith Glover, Eli Glovas-Kurtz\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003eMixed by Melina Duterte and Kyle Pulley\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003eMastered by Ruairi O'Flaherty at Nomograph Mastering\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003eArt design \u0026amp; layout by Sab Mai\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"Early Bird Vinyl (Lavender Sky Swirl)","offer_id":51759889285427,"sku":"PRC-517LP-EB","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Vinyl (Indigo \u0026 Cerulean Splatter)","offer_id":52813074628915,"sku":"PRC-9717LP-SPTFY","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Vinyl (White)","offer_id":51759889318195,"sku":"PRC-517LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51759889350963,"sku":"PRC-517CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape","offer_id":51759889383731,"sku":"PRC-517TAPE","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":51759889416499,"sku":"PRC-517DIGITAL","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Test Pressing + Early Bird Vinyl","offer_id":51759889449267,"sku":"PRC-517TEST","price":125.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/JaySom_Belong_SQ1wlogo_b7e2992e-9a3d-4b63-9df0-fc31bb2db2b7.jpg?v=1760070591"},{"product_id":"jay-som-past-lives-t-shirt","title":"Jay Som - 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