Jay Som’s sophomore album, Anak Ko, was our Album Of The Week back when it came out, so count us pleasantly surprised to find out that Melina Duterte has two more tracks where that came from, B-sides from the Anak Ko sessions that she’s putting out today. (They’ll also be released on a 7″ in May.) “A Thousand Words” is a vibrant and bright nostalgic twinge, while “Can’t Sleep” is a bit more chaotic and inscrutable, a soup of discordant and frustrated noise.

Duterte had some stuff to say about the songs in a press release:

“A Thousand Words”
This song was made after a year of extensive touring plus a cancelled tour. I forced myself to make a sort of big and jovial song to bring me out of the funk I was in. I also wanted to remind myself that music can be fun! It was heavily inspired by Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Smith, Pavement and that song “Alright” by Supergrass.

“Can’t Sleep”
“Can’t Sleep” was made in August or September 2017 while I was living with my parents in between US tours, before I moved to LA. I think I had all my gear packed away somewhere that I couldn’t access, so I used instruments left over in my childhood room: a broken acoustic guitar, chopsticks on a snare drum, a bad hi hat, and my trumpet. Everything was recorded through the laptop mic. I was pretty frustrated with the California heat and the fact that I couldn’t record properly, so this sort of fever dream song was born.

Listen to both below.

TOUR DATES:
02/20 Auckland, New Zealand @ Neck of the Woods
02/21 Sydney, Australia @ Oxford Art Factory
02/22 Brisbane, Australia @ The Foundry
02/23 Melbourne, Australia @ NorthCote Social Club
02/25 Osaka, Japan @ Shangri-La
02/26 Tokyo, Japan @ Club Quattro
02/29-03/01 Jakarta, Indonesia @ Java Jazz Festival
03/17 Bristol, UK @ The Fleece #
03/18 Brighton, UK @ Patterns #
03/19 London, UK @ The Garage # [SOLD OUT]
03/21 Manchester, UK @ YES #
03/22 Nottingham, UK @ Bodega Social Club #
03/24 Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club #
03/25 Glasgow, UK @ Stereo #
03/26 Dublin, Ireland @ The Workman’s Club #
03/28 Liverpool, UK @ Leaf #
03/29 Birmingham, UK @ The Sunflower Lounge #
03/31 Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique (Witloof Bar)
04/01 Paris, France @ Supersonic #
04/03 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Bitterzoet
04/05 Stockholm, Sweden @ Bar Brooklyn
04/06 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Ideal Bar
04/07 Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow (Skybar) #
04/08 Berlin, Germany @ Kantine am Berghain #
04/17 Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live! $
04/18 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel $
04/19 Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theater
04/20 Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom $
04/22 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium $%
04/24 New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre $
04/26 Austin, TX @ Stubb’s $
04/28 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse $
05/09 Cincinnati, OH @ The National Homecoming Festival
05/23 Boston, MA @ Boston Calling
06/04 Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
06/06 New York, NY @ Governors Ball
06/07 Los Angeles, CA @ Virgin Festival
# w/ Lazy Day
$ w/ Sharon Van Etten
% w/ Julien Baker

“A Thousand Words” b/w “Can’t Sleep” is out digitally now. The 7″ will be released on 5/1 — you can pre-order that here.