Saya Gray Shares New Single 'Saving Grace'

Today, Saya Gray follows last month's boundless and genre-defying, "IF THERE'S NO SEAT IN THE SKY (WILL YOU FORGIVE ME???)" with a new single titled "SAVING GRACE". The Canadian-Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, musical director, and multi-instrumentalist teases strange electronic distortion against staccato elegance on this new offering, ruminating on dark times and how someone checking in can bring you back to earth. Its eerie spirit paired with Saya's melodic tones makes for an otherworldly, further look into Saya's mystifying sonic universe.

"SAVING GRACE" is the second release from her forthcoming debut project, 19 MASTERS out via Dirty Hit (Wolf Alice, The 1975, Rina Sawayama, beabadoobee) on June 9th.

19 MASTERS is a reflection of Saya Gray's experiences of isolation and expectations as a mixed race woman of Japanese and Canadian descent growing up in a predominantly white environment. Her solitary nature echoes through the record via diaristic voice notes from her time touring with other artists, with delicate vocals that drift and shapeshift.

Indeed, 19 MASTERS is produced, written, and performed entirely by Saya, with the exception of her mother opening the album in Japanese, some guitar lines from her brother, and some trumpet from her dad. It's soft and deeply introspective, with songs primarily about her relationship with herself, delving into her mind, avoidant patterns, and the practice of self-celebration.

19 MASTERS is a dazzling listening experience. There are significant key changes, unexpected tempo shifts, guitars and vocals warped into new sounds and shapes, and even tilts in frequency - at various points, Saya plays singing bowls, harp, and koto, bringing celestial sounds that are healing to the body, a restorative balm to all the fractured and fraught identities. The project is acoustic and lo-fi, but not; it nods to hip-hop but isn't remotely in that space; it weaves in elements of alt-R&B, but it's not that either. Like the songs' own subjects, it is a stunning world entirely of Saya Gray's making, a peerless, genre-less sound that immediately establishes her as one of the most exciting new artists of 2022.

For Saya, the number 19 represents the beginning and ending of a cycle, from 1 to 9 and so 19 Masters takes us on Saya Gray's journey so far, fragmented and dreamlike, unafraid to be uncomfortable and pick apart the expectations, quietly sticking to her own path. It is a record that is all the more beguiling and immersive for it.

Listen to the new single here:

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