Jay Som and the bravery of belonging

Six years ago, Melina Duterte – aka Jay Som – released Anak Ko. Since this last album, she saw growth in working with other artists: touring with Lucy Dacus, winning a Grammy for her work with boygenius, and creating an original track for I Saw the TV Glow. Now, she is circling back to the sounds of her Bay Area roots. At long last, Jay Som’s latest record, simply titled Belong, is a fierce compilation of dreamy indie, fierce pop punk, and wistful alternative rock.

While tracks like “Drop A” sound like a dip in the Pacific after a pensive drive through the redwoods, others like “Float” and “Past Lives” feature prominent icons from the early ‘00s that might bring a joyous tear to the eye of anyone who grew up in the prime years of Warped Tour. In a way, Jay Som is back – and in another, she never left.

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Jay Som’s most recent collection is lovingly crafted. “[For] the last couple years, I’ve been wanting to make more fun music and see what else I could do,” she says from her home studio. After a lifetime of being a bedroom artist, she has finally set up shop in a room without a bed, albeit with a comfy couch for her adorable dog, Tuli (short for “Tallulah”). To her left is another precious baby, Duterte’s very own blue vintage Neve console. Purchased as a stimulus check impulse buy, she scored this pivotal piece fortuitously, buying it from the bassist of Fleet Foxes. “He was like, ‘Hey, are you Jay Som? I’m a huge fan, we’ve been trying to tour with you for a while,’” she laughs. Without knowing how the equipment worked at all, she went out on a limb. “It’s kind of insane that I did that, but I feel like that’s how you learn. You just gotta be brave.”

In fact, Duterte is brave. Despite being shy, it seems she has a real knack for finding good company. While some might pin it on luck that she’s been able to work with so many of her musical idols, it’s likely due to her charisma, charm, and genuine nature. One such hero Duterte had the pleasure of working with was Hayley Williams, who features on “Past Lives”. “After the Paramore After Laughter summer tour in 2018, we kept in touch and she texts me once in a blue moon,” Duterte explains.

Since then, Williams persistently asked about the album’s production. At one point, Williams introduced Duterte to eventual Belong co-producer Steph Marziano, who made the collaboration a reality. “I didn’t reach out to Hayley or anything, but Steph was like, ‘We gotta go to Nashville, there’s the Spotify studio. We can book it for three days. Let’s just see if Hayley’s around.’” Williams was around. The song came together fast, with Duterte sending out demos and Williams bringing her unique vocal flair to the track. “She just went off. It’s still so crazy and surreal that she’s on this song. She’s so kind,” Duterte adds.

Belong feels youthful in that raw, unselfconscious kind of way. It’s unabashed and brazen, stumbling with a sort of uncoordinated grace. The music video for “Float” – featuring another of Duterte’s idols, Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World – is reminiscent of the fun pop hits of MTV paired with sad and sombre lyrics. Duterte admittedly loves this juxtaposition, clamouring for something catchy and heart-achy all at once. Alongside such agonizing lyrics as, “Measuring your misery / Pouring out what's left of me,” a unique cast of people dance around a grinning Duterte, who’s making hearts with her hands.

“There were so many house party music videos in the early 2000s; I kind of just wanted to call back to that,” she says, pointing toward Blink-182’s “Feeling This” and “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. The result is something utterly charming and off-kilter, like a freewheeling pop punk funhouse.

Duterte is a lifelong fangirl of Bleed American. “My brother and I bought Bleed American on CD at Barnes and Noble when it came out and we fought over it so much that our boom boxes scratched the CD,” Duterte grins. This influence is evident in Belong, and particularly in the catchy rhythm guitar and playful chorus. As “Float” was coming together, it seemed it was missing something that only Adkins was able to fill. “As I was recording and writing it, [I kept thinking] ‘I hear a guy singing on this song.’ I just kept hearing Jim’s voice,” she explains with a smile. Her intuition brought to fruition something special – a unique song that could live comfortably in both 2001 and present day.

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With this kind of blast to the past, awkwardness is inevitable. Tracks “Appointments” and “You Want It All” touch on softer, more openly sentimental feelings. “Appointments” is the kind of song you might listen to while longingly staring out the window, waiting for a text back. “It’s kind of an embarrassing song,” Duterte admits. Well, maybe it is a bit embarrassing. But it’s in those notes of unrequited feeling that touch on the youthful unease we all have known once, ultimately offering a quiet space of comfort. If there’s something Jay Som does best, it’s big feelings. Professing her own knack for shyness and how music helps her connect, she adds, “I think in music, I form those connections often. It’s confusing. It’s just about having big feelings and being kind of low-key embarrassed about them.”

Belong is touching and relatable. This is largely due to Duterte being in tune with her own feelings (with an impressive instinct to spill them out sonically), though likely also because the album was forged with a collaborative fire. Jay Som took off when Duterte was young, touring hard and fast. Only with the forced pause of pandemic did she have some time to rest, connecting with those around her more deeply. Joao Gonzalez of Soft Glas was one connection found, as well as collaborator to Mk.gee and Illuminati Hotties, Mal Hauser.

Hauser and co-producer Steph Marziano had a hand in writing lyrics on the album, while Gonzalez, and Headroom Studio’s Kyle Pulley assisted further in production. The entire piece was crafted through a collaborative force, making it something unique in the Jay Som repertoire. Notably, Belong marks Duterte’s first time ever inviting vocal collaborators. While the album took quite a bit of time to come together, it was assembled with the love and attention of a community garden, each member contributing something beautiful for the good of the whole.

After a respite, Jay Som is ready to take on the world. She is ready to tour and is dreaming bigger than ever, learning new things along the way. “My biggest dream ever was just validation from my heroes, and I think that’s happened hundreds of times now,” Duterte smiles. As she gets ready to hit the road again, it’s clear that Jay Som is herself a hero, even if she doesn’t know it yet.