Following the release of her first song, “SHALLOW (PPL SWIM IN SHALLOW WATERS),” Saya Gray is thrilled to drop a new song today entitled “ZUCCHINI DREAMS (AUBERGINE MEMORIES).”

Like “SHALLOW (PPL SWIM IN SHALLOW WATERS),” “ZUCCHINI DREAMS (AUBERGINE MEMORIES)” sounds like nothing else — a glitch in the space/time continuum, Gray’s vocals bend and drip like heavy flowers in a vase, coalescing in gorgeous harmonies that drive the track’s first half, dipping in and out of dark, gnarled bass lines and ephemera. Accompanied by her brother on electric guitar and her mother’s own Japanese phrases interspersed throughout, “ZUCCHINI DREAMS (AUBERGINE MEMORIES)” is four minutes of pure fever dream.

Gray’s sonic world is a swirling of aural colors to create a beautiful whole: picked, oscillating bass and guitar melodies; Gray’s incredible, versatile voice scaling phenomenal heights; ghostly sounds hovering on the peripheries; entire songs blooming within each verse and chorus. At times, it sounds like a collage; at other times, it sounds like a friend elegantly singing in your ear.  

Gray self-recorded and played multiple instruments on the song, which was originally written using voice notes while she was traveling around the world as a touring bassist. The result is intimate and startling, and will be one of your favorite new discoveries this year, hands down. It’s already one of ours.