It’s perhaps surprising to learn that Saya Gray has never released an album, all that changes in 2025. Across her three previous EPs—2022’s 19 MASTERS, 2023’s QWERTY I, and 2024’s QWERTY II—she’s introduced the world to a sound that’s as vivid as it is vulnerable, seamlessly weaving genres with a bold originality. On February 21st 2025, Gray will release SAYA an album that seeks to draw a line in the sand between what came before and what the future holds.
Today, offers a further glimpse of what’s to come with the release of an evocative brand new track ‘H.B.W’ – a spellbinding blend of pop, soul and the avant-garde. Following the release of the country music-tinged ‘SHELL( OF A MAN )’ last month, “H.B.W” finds Gray in a fever-dream state, her vivid vocals flowing with quiet grace underpinned by a deep, trembling bassline, and twitching almost trippy beats. Confronting feelings of grief and the loss of control, her confessional lyrics lay bare her vulnerability and strength in the face of uncertainty, combined with her meticulous approach to music production, it’s clear that Saya Gray is an artist that unquestionably occupies her own, very distinct lane. Not wanting to give too much away about “H.B.W” (an acronym of the chorus lyric ‘Heartbreak Wake’) and the personal themes it contains, Gray simply states; “H.B.W is the pain of nightmares”.
Gray began work on SAYA following the dissolution of a troubled romantic entanglement; she booked a flight to Japan in Autumn of 2023, and like a feel-good movie protagonist, detangled herself from the outstanding psychic ties by journeying solo on a cross-country road trip. Moved by the vastness of albums by the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, as well as her Canadian folk forebear, Joni Mitchell, Gray kept an acoustic guitar in the passenger’s seat, just in case inspiration would strike. In recording “SAYA”, Gray sanded and fine tuned the rough edges of records past into more cohesive works of melodic folk songcraft.
Saya follows a pair of critically-acclaimed EPs QWERTY and QWERTY II. Born out of the large periods of 2023 she spent in studious isolation and her healthy fear of the ever encroaching digital world, the 10 tracks perfectly demonstrate her stunningly detailed compositions. She first introduced herself to the world as a solo artist in 2022 with 19 MASTERS.Recorded in large part through her iPhone’s Voice Notes app, her dissonant electro-rock sketches aptly met the moment of global post-pandemic disarray. She also began unveiling her own kaleidoscopic inventions to such major festivals as the Montreal Jazz Fest, Pitchfork Music’s Paris festival and Primavera Sound in Spain. Gray was born in Toronto, Canada, to a Japanese mother and Scottish-Canadian father. She first got her start playing in a house band at a Jamaican Pentecostal church; by 16, she was recruited for gigs at open mics, nightclubs and jazz festivals alongside adults. Soon, Gray began entertaining bigger offers to tour internationally as a bass player and musical director for Grammy-winning neo-soul singer Daniel Caesar and alt royalty Willow Smith.
