Last month, Jay Som announced her new album Anak Ko with the lead single “Superbike,” and now she’s back with another preview of the record, “Tenderness.” She describes the track as “a feel-good, funky, kind of sexy song,” and that’s an apt characterization. The song has a strong groove but also some ambient haze to it, both of which come across in the track’s psychedelic video.
Jay Som says the track is partially about “the curse of social media,” and adds:
“That’s definitely about scrolling on your phone and seeing a person and it just haunts you, you can’t escape it. 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.”
Jay Som previously spoke about how changes in her life have benefitted her music, saying, “In order to change, you’ve got to make so many mistakes. 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.”
Listen to “Tenderness” above.
Anak Ko is out 8/23 via Polyvinyl. Pre-order it here.
