Jay Som Delivers Anak Ko In Time For Worldwide Tour
Photo Credit: Lindsey Byrnes
DIY dream pop breakout Jay Som has devised, crafted, and delivered the newest understated set of indie rock songs in the form of Anak Ko, which came out August 23rd via Polyvinyl Records. Pronounced Ah-nuhk Koh— meaning "my child" in Tagalog, one of the native dialects in the Philippines— the sophomore album serves as a nod to her Filipino parents' immigrant background and the cultural customs she often cites as major influences.
Also known as Melina Duterte, her self-described “headphone music” blends these familial traditions with lush, poppy notes of ‘80s bands, bass-heavy strides of ‘90s alt-rock, and her own background in jazz trumpet to curate a lo-fi sound that remains entirely her own. Anak Ko demonstrates Duterte’s continued experimentation with different musical styles, as she explains, “I don't really think about, ‘I really want to make just a pop song right now’, or ‘I only want this to be a funk track.’ It’s more about, like, ‘I really want funky guitars on this kind of '80s pop thing, or this '90s grunge thing.’”
Following in the wake of 2017’s Everybody Works, which received countless accolades on Best of 2017 lists from Pitchfork, NPR, Stereogum, Rolling Stone, and more, Anak Ko was produced with the knowledge that there would be formidable comparison and criticism. In fact, the pressure to meet expectations became a driving force behind its creation, as Duterte shares, “I feel like last year I went through a big journey of kind of nerves and feeling like I was too pressured into being experimental with this new record. Now, I feel a little more settled, a little more calm, and I know what I want from music and my relationships with other people, in terms of working and personal ones.”
During the two years since her last release, Duterte has faced a number of transitions head-on: a move from her native Bay Area to Los Angeles, an abrupt turn to sobriety on Thanksgiving night, and a marked change in her artistic process. Though Duterte still recorded, produced, engineered, and mixed this album herself in her own makeshift home studio— in some songs, you can hear the washer or dryer near her bedroom— she completed most of Anak Ko during a self-imposed week-long solo retreat to Joshua Tree.
When asked about the process of creating the work, she puts simply, “I just wanted to make a more groovy record.” Additionally, for the first time, she recruited others— including Vagabon’s Laetitia Tamko, Chastity Belt’s Annie Truscott, Justus Proffit, Boy Scouts’ Taylor Vick, as well as touring bandmates Zachary Elasser, Oliver Pinnell, and Dylan Allard— to contribute vocals, guitar, strings, drums, and pedal steel. Honing in on crisp simplicity and mellowed grooves, Duterte uses this experience of collaboration to crack her sound open, highlighting its best parts. She relates, “I think I’m just tired of hearing only myself in my music sometimes, so it gives a fresh perspective. You know, I just can't hear myself drum anymore. Having other peoples’ fingerprints all over my stuff feels really good.”
An interesting insight into this newfound experimentation and collaboration can be found in “Nighttime Drive.” The warm, folk rock track— and most recent antecedent of the album— comes alongside an interestingly paranormal video which director Han Hale describes as “an homage to the song's namesake; the song is about being a band on the road and the camaraderie involved.” In the video, we see Jay Som’s world of shy intimacies punctuated by lighthearted fun as her drowsy, backseat ruminations give way to an X-Files montage of oddities, capturing the delirium of tour life alongside Elasser, Pinnell, and Allard. Duterte confirms the similarities between the video’s mania and her own experience with musician-hood, noting that “[it] basically encapsulated my entire life for the past two years.”
Now a part of the new indie vanguard that places her alongside the likes of Clairo, (Sandy) Alex G, and Soccer Mommy, Jay Som joins a new breed of indie-rockers popping up in the U.S. Having shared the stage with the likes of Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, Paramore, and The National, Jay Som is preparing to bring Anak Ko on the road this autumn for her own massive international tour, kicking off September 11th in Phoenix, AZ.
Tracklist
1. If You Want It
2. Superbike
3. Peace Out
4. Devotion
5. Nighttime Drive
6. Tenderness
7. Anak Ko
8. Crown
9. Get Well
Tour Dates
09/11 - Phoenix, AZ | The Rebel Lounge #$
09/12 - San Diego, CA | The Irenic #$
09/13 - Los Angeles, CA | Echoplex #$
09/14 - San Francisco, CA | The Fillmore #$
9/15 - Guerneville, CA | Save The Redwoods Benefit
09/17 - Vancouver, BC | Imperial #$
09/18 - Seattle, WA | Neumos #$
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
