Jay Som delights in the neon glow of an ‘80s dancehall in the striking music video for “Tenderness,” the latest cut taken from the musician’s forthcoming sophomore release Anak Ko.
The follow-up to last month’s “Superbike,” “Tenderness” is more electronic-driven than its jangle-pop predecessor. Melissa Duterte coos over a metallic drum loop and languid chords before the song melts into a glossy arrangement of drowsy funk percussion and slinky guitars around the one-minute mark. There’s a key change somewhere in there, too, glued together by bouncy, careful plucking and plenty of high-hats.
All gold glitter, sparkling lip gloss and silver cowboy hats, the video finds the musician and her bandmates performing below the glitz of a disco ball on a dance floor boxed in by iridescent wallpaper. It’s fun and matches the glossiness of the song itself, which Duterte calls “a feel-good, funky, kind of sexy song” in part about “the curse of social media” and how it complicates relationships.
“That’s definitely about scrolling on your phone and seeing a person and it just haunts you, you can’t escape it,” Duterte explains in a statement. “I have a weird relationship to social media and how people perceive me—as this person that has a platform, as a solo artist, and this marginalized person. That was really getting to me. I wanted to express those emotions, but I felt stifled.”
The follow-up to 2017’s Everybody Works, Anak Ko will arrive Aug. 23 via Polyvinyl Record Co. You can revisit the album’s details and lead single here, and preorder the LP here.
Check out the new single below and revisit our gallery of the musician’s 2017 performance at Baby’s All Right here.