Canada-born, Britain-based electronic artist Jayda G has announced a new album. Guy is out on June 9 via Pirates Blend / Ninja Tune, and the single "Circle Back Around" is available now.
The album intersperses Jayda G's electronic, pop and R&B influences with archival recordings of her late father, William Richard Guy, after whom the album is named.
Guy died when Jayda G was 10, and she apparently drew from more than 11 hours of recordings. The musician said in a statement, "I wanted the album to be a blend of storytelling, about the African American experience, death, grief and understanding. It's about my dad and his story, and naturally in part my story, too, but it's also about so many people who wanted more for themselves and went on a search to find that. This album is just so much for people who have been oppressed and who have not had easy lives."
She continued, "I think the biggest thing that really drove me to understand more of his life is that my dad, just a few years before he was diagnosed, had worked so hard on himself. He went back to school to become a social worker, examining himself and his own demons, and really working on himself in the process. And I think it's just a testament that it's never too late to look at yourself and try to understand why you are the way you are, and strive to be better. Understanding the Black man's experience, Black people's experience in terms of America, and rising above what society tells you you're supposed to be."
The album was co-produced by Jack Peñate and features Ibeyi's Lisa-Kaindé Diaz. For a taste of Guy, watch a video for "Circle Back Around" below, filmed in Jayda's hometown of Grand Forks, BC. It will be the first of several videos directed by David Ehrenreich for the LP. Guy's tracklist is below that.
Guy:
1. Intro
2. Blue Lights
3. Heads or Tails
4. Scars
5. Interlude: I Got Tired of Running
6. Lonely Back in O
7. Your Thoughts
8. Interlude: It Was Beautiful
9. Meant to Be
10. Circle Back Around
11. When She Dance
12. Sapphires of Gold
13. 15 Foot
The album intersperses Jayda G's electronic, pop and R&B influences with archival recordings of her late father, William Richard Guy, after whom the album is named.
Guy died when Jayda G was 10, and she apparently drew from more than 11 hours of recordings. The musician said in a statement, "I wanted the album to be a blend of storytelling, about the African American experience, death, grief and understanding. It's about my dad and his story, and naturally in part my story, too, but it's also about so many people who wanted more for themselves and went on a search to find that. This album is just so much for people who have been oppressed and who have not had easy lives."
She continued, "I think the biggest thing that really drove me to understand more of his life is that my dad, just a few years before he was diagnosed, had worked so hard on himself. He went back to school to become a social worker, examining himself and his own demons, and really working on himself in the process. And I think it's just a testament that it's never too late to look at yourself and try to understand why you are the way you are, and strive to be better. Understanding the Black man's experience, Black people's experience in terms of America, and rising above what society tells you you're supposed to be."
The album was co-produced by Jack Peñate and features Ibeyi's Lisa-Kaindé Diaz. For a taste of Guy, watch a video for "Circle Back Around" below, filmed in Jayda's hometown of Grand Forks, BC. It will be the first of several videos directed by David Ehrenreich for the LP. Guy's tracklist is below that.
Guy:
1. Intro
2. Blue Lights
3. Heads or Tails
4. Scars
5. Interlude: I Got Tired of Running
6. Lonely Back in O
7. Your Thoughts
8. Interlude: It Was Beautiful
9. Meant to Be
10. Circle Back Around
11. When She Dance
12. Sapphires of Gold
13. 15 Foot
