Are you like me? Do you like listening to Elliott Smith and Alex G and spending the night questioning every aspect of your life? In that case, let me introduce you to Jay Som. Hailing from Oakland, she is creating introspective pop with a real purpose and her latest single, ’The Bus Song’, is a refined and thorough example of ‘guitar music’. It’s a beaut mix of lo-fi guitar layering (with plenty of those beautiful romanticised tones to kick you into a pit of self-examination) and bright harmonies, bursting with positive vibes. The result is dreamy and blissful, with just the slightest nod to something heavier (I suspect we’ll see that a bit later). And although there is enough emotion and poetic dialogue to match the visionaries I opened with, Jay Som writes songs with a genuine air of happiness. It’s nice, and believe me, we need more nice music.
Jay Som’s debut LP, Everybody Works, is out March 10 via Polyvinyl.