Album Review: Belong by Jay Som

Six years on from her last record, Jay Som returns with Belong, an album built on the paradox of letting go. Where Melina Duterte's earlier work was characterised by fastidious self-production, here she enacts a trust fall, opening her craft to collaborators and letting her palette spill outward. This sense of community lends weight to Duterte's nostalgia.

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Jay Som returns with her third full-length album just in time. Belong is a shimmering follow-up to 2019's Anak Ko, and sees Jay Som open up her circle to new collaborators in exciting ways. This particular bedroom, it seems, has bunk beds occupied by creatives Joao Gonzalez (of Soft Glas), Mal Hauser (collaborator to Mk.gee and illuminati hotties), as well as producers Steph Marziano and Kyle Pulley.

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While Belong isn't as pop-driven as 2019's Anak Ko and 2017's Everybody Works, the set features some of Duterte's more precisely composed and layered mixes. The project also captures Duterte at her most self-interrogative. If the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer has erstwhile projected a DIY/loner vibe, Belong is more about investing in those connections and social spaces that are empowering.

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Jay Som has been missing, but Jay Som never even left. It’s been a while since we’ve heard new Jay Som music. Yet, the irony of saying the music project of Melina Duterte has been missing for the past six years is that Duterte has been just about everywhere during that time. Since the release of 2019’s full-length Anak Ko, the project has been essentially on hiatus, but the principal member, Melina Duterte, has been popping up all over the indie rock landscape.

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On paper, it might feel as though Jay Som has been away for a long time, considering the last release to come from Melina Duterte landed just over six years ago now. But the past few years have been far from a holiday for the multi-hyphenate, who instead has been refining her production chops, teaming up with Palehound for their duo Bachelor, and touring alongside boygenius after working on their Grammy-winning album 'The Record'. It's little surprise, then, to learn that her collaborative era is continuing full steam ahead on fourth album 'Belong', for what's a rich, fulfilling album packed with nuance and reflection.

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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 Duterte, but the real prize is a new studio album. Her first in six years, 'Belong' boasts some fine songwriting, and guest appearances from some of Jay Som's all-time heroes. The LA artist is on rich form here.

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