Jay Som // Everybody Works

Jay Som

Everybody Works

Polyvinyl Records 

4.5/5 stars

The work of 22-year-old Oakland, California native Melina Duterte, Jay Som has made a record that's nothing short of incredible. Everybody Works is the first proper album from Duterte, following last year's Turn Into collection. It's a luscious, dense work of indie rock genius. With heavier elements of shoegaze employed in tracks like "1 Billion Dogs" and "Take It," Duterte does a stylistic balancing act. There are delicate dreampop tracks that perfectly emulate the 1980s such as "Remain." The tender, effects-laden melodies of the jazzy "One More Time, Please" and the warbly vibrato of "(Bedhead)" pull off the meditative, full-body experience that made My Bloody Valentine so enriching. The album closes with the hypnotic epic "For Light," floating listeners out on airy waves and tucking them safely into bed. Duterte's rich musical vocabulary is able to articulate her vision with grace. Her voice is soothing, disarming the listener immediately. A tad more somber than Turn Into, the record never ventures into emotional charlatanism. A success at nearly every turn, with Everybody Works, everything works. 

– Nick Warren