Oddball art pop of the highest calibre from Japanese-Canadian multi-everything Saya Gray. This is a record I fell in love with in February and which has stayed in my regular rotation ever since. SAYA is a very precise record, but also a very fractured one. Gray is here both serious and silly, with lyrics about emotional abuse and betrayal juxtaposed with a range of almost childlike noise nuggets (samples, vocal ticks, guitar licks). Under all the creative bells and whistles, though, is some serious singer-songwriter heft. Tracks like lead single ‘SHELL (OF A MAN)’, the playful ‘..THUS IS WHY (I DON’T SPRING 4 LOVE)’, and the beautiful ‘10 WAYS (TO LOSE A CROWN)’ all feel unique while, at their core, being catchy earworms. Gray’s production is impeccable and her meticulous, constructed approach feels way more alive than it has any right to. Is SAYA a pretentious record? You’d better believe it. Sometimes annoyingly so. I mean, who wouldn’t hate those self-satisfied, misspelled, capitalised Gen Z song titles? If you’re making pop music this fantastic, though, you get to dictate the terms.