Belong

In the six years since Jay Som’s critically acclaimed sophomore album *Anak Ko*, Melina Duterte has kept the kind of schedule that would strike fainter hearts with exhaustion. There’s been collaborations with Troye Sivan, beabadoobee, and Lucy Dacus; production credits across scores of indie records; a whole album with Palehørse’s El Kempner as Bachelor; and extensive touring as part of boygenius’ live band. With all this palling around, it’s not surprising that her third album as Jay Som features some high-powered collaborations: Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins joins in for the surging emo-pop of “Float,” while the chugging alt-rock anthem “Past Lives” features contributions from Paramore’s Hayley Williams. But *Belong* also finds Duterte picking up exactly where she left off with Jay Som’s recorded catalog, her trademark sense of intimacy and intricate arrangements left fully intact. From the tick-tock guitars of “Casino Stars” to the open-air wistfulness of “Appointments,” Duterte continues to develop her own brand of close-mic’d emotionalism even as her star has grown ever brighter across the 2020s.

Belong represents a shift for Jay Som, as she strives to operate more communally, while sounding sonically and thematically compelling.

What once was meticulous and solitary is now plural and porous, Jay Som’s Belong is a study in letting go.

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After a period of quiet, 2025 seems to be the year of Jay Som. The American artist has chalked up a slew of production credits under her given name Melina