Saya Gray‘s “QWERTY II” EP/Album Download ZIP MP3
Japanese-Canadian artist Saya Gray has announced the release of her new EP, QWERTY II, which is set to be out on March 28th via Dirty Hit.
Last year, she released a 7-track EP called QWERTY which included visual art and live shows. QWERTY II continues to showcase her unique way of creating music, which is a combination of detailed compositions and collage techniques. The 7 tracks in the EP were born out of her studious isolation and her fear of the ever-encroaching digital world. According to Gray, the EP is “a collection of ideas and collages stuck together as the ying to the yang of the first half”. It follows the release of three new tracks she dropped late last year, which she describes as a bridge between both QWERTY EPs.
Gray also unveiled the video for her brand new single “AA BOUQUET FOR YOUR 180 FACE”. The track features Gray’s primary instrument, bass guitar, and sees her counting days on a calendar over scattering percussion. Speaking about the track, Gray revealed that “180 face is my bass moment off of qwerty ii EP it’s about a spooky moody boy with a 180 face”.
TRACKLIST
1. .. YOU, A FOOL
2. 2 2 BOOTLEG
3. AA BOUQUET FOR YOUR 180 FACE
4. DIPAD33 / W . I . D . F . U
5. ! EDIBLE THONG
6. ! MAVIS BEACON
7. RRRate MY KAWAII CAKE
About Saya Gray
Saya Gray is a Japanese-Scottish musician, visual artist, and designer who was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Her music is known for its captivating and poetic songwriting, as well as its vibrant soundscapes that blend folk, rock, pop, and other genres. In 2020, she burst onto the scene with her debut single ‘SHALLOW (PPL SWIM IN SHALLOW WATER)’ and has since released follow-up tracks such as ‘IF THERE’S NO SEAT IN THE SKY (WILL YOU FORGIVE ME???)’ and ‘SAVING GRACE’.
In 2022, Saya Gray released a collection of songs titled ’19 MASTERS’, which showcased her unique ability to create a collage of sounds that felt both comforting and disorienting, vast yet intimate. Last year, she returned with a brand new EP titled ‘QWERTY’, which consisted of recorded music, live shows, and visuals. The EP, released in May on Dirty Hit (Wolf Alice, Rina Sawayama, beabadoobee), perfectly encapsulates her genuinely unique method of creation and consisted of seven tracks.
To create the music for ‘QWERTY’, Saya Gray entered a period of isolation to sample and compile existing snippets that she compulsively records with an always-on tape machine. These snippets could be anything from voice notes from years ago to a sample of her drummer playing Jungle rhythms or a ridiculous thrash riff her brother interrupted the sessions to play her. She then fed these snippets through an MPC to create a body of work that she describes as putting ‘1000 personalities in one song’. This unfiltered, frenzied approach to her art is how she reclaims her sense of self in an ever-changing world.
