Jay Som is a newcomer in the indie music world, but she’s been steadily gaining notoriety for her incredible sophomore album Everybody Works. Our own Steven Hyden called it an indie pop opus, and that feels like a particularly apt title for her blissed out, fuzzy and inventive take on what is blanketed over as “indie pop.” Today, we got more of that weird and twisted and gorgeous sound from her via a Beatles cover that was commissioned and then apparently discarded.
“I was commissioned to make this and they didn’t use it LOL well enjoy!!!” Melina Duterte wrote of her take on the classic “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Noting the positive reaction to the track just might cause whoever declined to use it to question their own taste — this was a mistake. Duterte hews close to the original melody and words for her brief, under two minute take on the track, but adds guitar tweaks and percussive twists that highlight the song’s amorphous room for expansion. I’m also not sure if I’ve ever heard this song sung by a woman, and her voice — along with fleets of airy harmonies — make it feel even more trippy than it does when Lennon does it. Hear it below.
https://soundcloud.com/jay_som/strawberry-fields-cover
