Two years ago, then 23-year-old Melina Duterte (aka Jay Som) left her home in the Bay Area and moved to Los Angeles. She was riding the acclaim of her debut album, Everybody Works, which received Paste Magazine’s top album award in 2017, but was eager for a creative change of pace. After a week-long solo retreat to Joshua Tree, Anak Ko was born. (The name translates to “my child” in Tagalog, the native dialect of the Philippines.)
The first three tracks off the album are slices of shoegazer bliss, as Duterte’s vocals perfectly mix in with her straightforward guitar balladry. “Superbike” would fit right in on a playlist featuring songs by Cocteau Twins and The Sundays, while the drowsy funk of “Tenderness” is anchored with a simple Casiotone drum beat. Our favorite is the latest single, “Nighttime Drive,” which is accompanied by an X-Files-themed video that features Duterte and friends investigating a strange series of crop circles.
Anak Ko was produced, recorded, engineered and mixed by Duterte, and is available via Polyvinyl Record Co. You can watch the video for “Nighttime Drive” and read more about Duterte here.
