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Jay Som: Belong (Lavender) [Vinyl LP]

Letting the half-decade of life and work since releasing 2019's Anak Ko filter not only into her songs but also her process, Melina Duterte, aka Jay Som, has opened up her music to herself and her memories, writing songs that revisit the sounds of her youth with the benefit of her experience as a musician, producer, and performer. No previous Jay Som album sounds quite like Belong, 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.

Letting the half-decade of life and work since releasing 2019's Anak Ko filter not only into her songs but also her process, Melina Duterte, aka Jay Som, has opened up her music to herself and her memories, writing songs that revisit the sounds of her youth with the benefit of her experience as a musician, producer, and performer. No previous Jay Som album sounds quite like Belong, 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.