This month, Gay City News reviews the latest albums by gay R&B/pop singer Khalid and queer indie rock artist Jay Som.
Khalid | “After the Sun Goes Down” | RCA | Oct. 10
Khalid’s spare, clanking debut single, “Location,” landed him Frank Ocean comparisons, but the singer turned out to be easier to pin down. His first album, 2017’s “American Teen,” established a persona: a likable kid with a depressive streak and a fondness for weed. (His song titles “Another Sad Love Song” and “Therapy” set the mood.) For the next few years, he had a run of major hits — “Young, Dumb and Broke,” “Talk,” “Love Lies,” “Better” — but the streak dried up after the pandemic. Last year, he spoke publicly about his sexuality for the first time after an ex-boyfriend outed him.
Especially following “American Teen,” the biggest weakness of Khalid’s music is its function as undemanding background music. If you listen hard enough, his melancholy can be quite affecting, as on his Marshmello collaboration “Silence.” Still, it’s telling that he’s worked with numerous artists across genres — EDM producer Martin Garrix, country artist Kane Brown, former Fifth Harmony singer Normani, Billie Eilish — without fundamentally altering his sound. His latest album “After the Sun Goes Down” foregoes guests.
The first single from his latest album “After the Sun Goes Down,” “in plain sight” finds Khalid in an upbeat, even triumphant mood, embracing the rush of righteous anger. He’s downright thrilled to tell a cheating lover to get out of his life: “what’s the tea ‘bout him?/said he’s just a friend…if you’re the type to sneak around, leave the keys on your way out.” “nah” examines the same betrayal with a slower, more downbeat tune. “whenever you’re gone” turns the situation around, pining for a lost lover, with Khalid singing; “if you’re not next to me when I wake up/it’s just another dream that I made up.” The production flips powerfully, churning from a very quiet start into an agitated chorus. Khalid even raps one verse.
Too much of the rest of “After the Sun Goes Down” is easy to ignore. The mix pushes vocals and drums to the front, which emphasizes Khalid’s chops as a singer. Production touches like pizzicato violins, trap hi-hats, glitchy vocal chops and Middle Eastern flavoring sound merely decorative. The songs which try harder to stand out musically, like “whenever you’re gone,”“dumbstruck” and “in plain sight,” reward attention. Khalid’s first album released since he came out, “After the Sun Goes Down” passes up the opportunity to take his music somewhere new. Intensity has never been his strong point, but he’s too willing to settle to stick with Spotify-core vibes.
Jay Som | “Belong” | Polyvinyl | Oct. 10
Jay Som is no longer alone. After years of making music by herself — her 2012 demos “See You, Later” and “Finding What You’re Looking For In the Closet” are still up on Bandcamp — the Filipina-American singer/songwriter spent the past few producing other artists and touring as boygenius’ bassist. Her return to solo music, “Belong,” places those experiences into the picture. Although she still plays most of the instruments on the album, she’s now able to work with influences like Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins, both of whom sing on “Belong,” as peers.
Jay Som doesn’t raise her voice. In fact, she murmurs her way through “Drop A.” Back in 2019, she said she wanted to combine the Cocteau Twins and Alanis Morrisette, and she’s picked up the former band’s dreamy mood. Songs like “Babybee,” “Tenderness” and “Superbike” offered pop hooks with the gloss stripped away. Her music’s cozy, but it also forces the listener to stretch for its meaning.
It’s distinguished by light, playful experimentation. The bright, clean “Sprouting Wings” emerges from the lo-fi, distorted contortions of its intro “Meander.” She pitch-shifts her voice into a falsetto for “A Million Reasons Why.” The album’s final sounds are field recordings of laughter. On “Cards on the Table,” acoustic guitar rubs shoulders with gentle programmed drums and synthesizer. A hushed tone gives way to an increasingly layered backing track, before a fade out. Jay Som sings softly about being betrayed by a friend: “missed the signs, you’re spiraling down/you blame it on yourself except yourself.”
Drawing on the production expertise Jay Som has gained working with Hatchie, Chris Farren and Chastity Belt, “Belong” has a distinct sonic vocabulary. She’s gone far past the simple arrangements for guitar, keyboards, and drum machine used on her earliest music. Leaving behind any ties to bedroom pop, “Belong” works within a much larger, studio-created sound. Folk-based strumming nests inside more modern elements: programmed drums, the clicks of her rhythm guitar. Her solos allows otherwise peaceful songs to break through to new heights, like the soaring “D. H.” As the softly smeared cinematography of the videos for “Cards on the Table” and “What You Need,” implies, the music invites us to accompany her journey. (She travels by bicycle and subway in those visuals.) On “Belong,” Jay Som takes her earlier albums’ best elements of her earlier albums to a more introspective, peaceful place.
Click here to read about other recent releases in our archive of monthly music roundups.
