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Jul 11, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Lindsey Byrnes Jay Som

Jay Som (aka Melina Duterte) is releasing a new album, Anak Ko, on August 23 via Polyvinyl. Previously she shared its first single, “Superbike,” via a lyric video for the track (it was #1 on our Song of the Week list). Now she has shared another song from the album, the dreamy “Tenderness,” via a video for the track. Weird Life produced and directed the video. Watch it below, followed by her upcoming tour dates.

In a press release Duterte says “Tenderness” is “a feel-good, funky, kind of sexy song” that is in part about “the curse of social media” and how it affects relationships. “That’s definitely about scrolling on your phone and seeing a person and it just haunts you, you can’t escape it,” Duterte adds. “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.”

Anak Ko is the follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed Everybody Works, also on Polyvinyl (which was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2017). Duterte was based in the Bay Area, but relocated to Los Angeles prior to recording the new album. She recorded Anak Ko at home as the sole producer, engineer, and mixer. A previous press release pointed out that “in some songs, you can hear the washer/dryer near her bedroom.” Although it wasn’t a completely solitary affair, the album also features plenty of guests, including Vagabon’s Laetitia Tamko, Chastity Belt’s Annie Truscott, Justus Proffit, and Boy Scouts’ Taylor Vick, as well as her touring bandmates Zachary Elasser, Oliver Pinnell, and Dylan Allard.

The album’s title is pronounced “Ah-nuh Koh,” which means “my child” in Filipino. It was inspired by a text message from Duterte’s mother, who often addresses her as “anak ko.” “It’s an endearing thing to say, it feels comfortable,” Duterte said in the previous press release.

In the press release Duterte said the album is about the importance of patience and kindness and that those concepts have helped her growth as an artist. “In order to change, you’ve got to make so many mistakes,” she said. “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.”

For “Superbike,” Duterte’s aim was to merge Cocteau Twins and Alanis Morissette for a song that she said lets “loose over swirling shoegaze. I came up with the vocal melody while chopping onions during a rare snowstorm in Joshua Tree, definitely one of my favorite memories from making the album.”

The album is due out in North America on Polyvinyl, in Australia/New Zealand/Asia via Pod/Inertia Music, and in the rest of the world via Lucky Number.

Back in February Jay Som shared a brand new song, “Simple,” that was released as part of the Adult Swim Singles series. That song is not featured on the new album. Last year Jay Som teamed up with Justus Proffit for a collaborative EP, Nothing’s Changed.

Read our 2017 Pleased to Meet You interview with Jay Som.

Jay Som Tour Dates:

07/20 - Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
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 #$
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

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