JayWood – 7th Level Music

Review: JayWood – Slingshot

Jeremy “JayWood” Haywood-Smith went through a lot, like all of us, in the last three years but he had an added gut punch to the mess – the death of his mother in 2019. He, again like all of us, wanted to put those times behind him, but he realized he needed to take an honest look back to move forward, which inspired the name of his newest album, Slingshot.

The album’s overarching story takes place in one day and covers topics ranging from childhood to religion to racial violence, and the musical styles across the record cover as much ground, if not more. “God Is a Reptile” is a bumping, thumping track with psychedelic guitar flourishes and trance bass while he encourages us to not beat ourselves up over trivial crap. In fact we should, as the next track suggests, “Pray, Move On.” “All Night Long” seems to skewer people who will party their lives away while the planet crumbles around them. The fact that JayWood makes it a lovely dance track only emphasizes the ironic point.

“Just Sayin'” has JayWood and Ami Cheon singing us a danceable Zen lesson with funky grooves and lyrics like “I’m not thinkin’ ’bout the future. We can’t go down that path. ‘Cause I’m just rooted in the here, the now, the black, the brown, the truth…” “Is It True (Dreams Pt. 3)” has a great mix of hand percussion, processed beats, soothing bass, clockwork guitars, and pulsing synths as JayWood wonders if love is real. His vocals get trippy and drippy on “Kitchen Floor” – a lyrically scalding track that has JayWood shaking up white folks, black folks, his friends, himself, and apathy in general.

“Shine” (with co-vocalist McKinley Dixon) is a plea let black people just live their lives. “Tulips” seems to be a song directed toward a lady who JayWood sees at church now and then, but it might be directed toward God – who really is the same person. He encourages us on “YGBO – Interlude” that “If you’re healing, you’re gonna be okay.” “Thank You” is a song for his “dearly parted” mother and other people he’s lost, and we’ve all lost, in the last three years. “I just want to thank you for the best years of my life,” JayWood sings, and you can’t help but clap along with him. His lyrics about dealing with grief are spot-on: “Here’s hoping time will help when feeling low. Here’s hoping it’s not that bad thinking you’re in heaven now. So I’ll just keep my head in the clouds. Seems hard to go down roads I’ve never known. Seems hard to flow forward, not thinking about what happens now, but Imma do my best to make you proud.”

Amen.

Keep your mind open.

[I’m just sayin’ you should subscribe, that’s all…]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

JayWood is “Just Sayin'” on his new single.

JayWood – the moniker of Winnipeg musician & songwriter Jeremy Haywood-Smith – announces his new album, Slingshot, out July 15th on Captured Tracks, and shares its lead single/video, “Just Sayin.” Since 2015, JayWood has captured the young writer’s journey of self-discovery and heartache through unique songwriting and an ever-evolving sound. After the loss of his mother in 2019 and a global standstill with multiple social crises throughout 2020, Haywood-Smith yearned for forward momentum. “The idea of looking back to go forward became a really big thing for me—hence the title, ‘Slingshot,’” Haywood-Smith explains. Feeling disconnected from his past and ancestry after the death of a parent, Haywood-Smith made a conscious effort to better understand his identity and unique Black experience living in the predominantly white province of Manitoba. Through a year of self-reflection and reconnection with his roots, Haywood-Smith has made the biggest leap forward for JayWood by simply looking back. Slingshot is a self-portrait of JayWood at his surface and his depths, merging fantasy scenarios, personal anecdotes, and infectious pop and dance instrumentals.

The narrative for Slingshot takes place in the span of one day. From the first track to the last track, JayWood takes you on a journey that touches on themes of childhood, religion, and identity. While writing and recording the album, Haywood-Smith put together a complex “script” mapping out all of the plot points, environments, characters that make up this surreal version of his real life. Musically, Haywood-Smith wrote and performed a bulk of the track’s instrumentations, but the LP has notable appearances from Canadian contemporaries Ami Cheon and Mckinley Dixon, and fellow Manitoban musician Kayla Fernandes who fronts the doom-metal band Vagina Witchcraft. One song was co-produced with Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Today’s “Just Sayin” was originally written by Haywood-Smith with the intention to be given to another artist to perform, but he pushed himself to expand his vocal range and embody the confidence that pop music requires for the track. “The song is about creating equal opportunity for people in need, and lending a helping hand if you can,” says Haywood-Smith. “It’s a super simple thought that I think could easily get overlooked, but having a catchy reminder like this might subliminally provoke some thought.”

Watch JayWood’s Video for “Slingshot”

Jeremy Haywood-Smith was born and raised in the Canadian prairies, spending most of his life in the city of Winnipeg. He taught himself how to write and record during the early days of the JayWood project, but has developed through challenging himself to never fear change. Despite the culturally homogenous nature of his hometown, Haywood-Smith takes inspiration from a wide range of Black performers and artists working in all genres and eras. For Slingshot, visionary artists like Kendrick Lamar inspired Haywood-Smith’s approach to storytelling and world-building. “I love Kendrick’s ability to pull from life experiences growing up and conveying a message that’s greater than himself,” says Haywood-Smith “This album felt like I was making something that I would want my younger self to hear.”

Pre-order Slingshot

Watch video for “God Is A Reptile” by JayWood

Keep your mind open.

[You could subscribe. Just sayin’…]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

JayWood says “Thank You” on his dreamy new single.

JayWood – the moniker of Winnipeg musician & songwriter Jeremy Haywood-Smith – presents a new single/video, “Thank You,” from his forthcoming album, Slingshot, out July 15th on Captured Tracks. The album’s penultimate track, “Thank You” was co-produced with Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra & Blouse and features string arrangements by Johan Lenox. The song brings JayWood’s sound full circle, offering something reminiscent of Haywood-Smith’s earliest recordings while flaunting that “the best is yet to come.” “‘Thank You’ is a song that’s dedicated to the folks that aren’t really in my life anymore, but more importantly it’s for my mom who passed away back in 2019.” says Haywood-Smith. “I feel like this song kinda wrote itself, it felt so easy to put together because I knew the core of what I was trying to get across. The demo for this song felt super strong but after Jake and I spent some time expanding a few ideas, the song really blossomed into something I couldn’t ever imagine.”

The charming accompanying video, directed by Chantel Simpson, shows Haywood-Smith passing out flowers across Harlem.

Watch Jaywood’s Video for “Thank You”

The narrative for Slingshot takes place in the span of one day. From the first track to the last track, JayWood takes you on a journey that touches on themes of childhood, religion, and identity. While writing and recording the album, Haywood-Smith put together a complex “script” mapping out all of the plot points, environments, characters that make up this surreal version of his real life. Musically, Haywood-Smith wrote and performed a bulk of the track’s instrumentations, but the LP has notable appearances from Canadian contemporaries Ami Cheon and McKinley Dixon, and fellow Manitoban musician Kayla Fernandes who fronts the doom-metal band Vagina Witchcraft. Despite the culturally homogenous nature of his hometown, Haywood-Smith takes inspiration from a wide range of Black performers and artists working in all genres and eras. “This album felt like I was making something that I would want my younger self to hear.”

Born and raised in the Canadian prairies, JayWood has captured Haywood-Smith’s journey of self-discovery and heartache through unique songwriting since 2015. After the loss of his mother in 2019 and a global standstill with multiple social crises throughout 2020, Haywood-Smith yearned for forward momentum. “The idea of looking back to go forward became a really big thing for me—hence the title, ‘Slingshot,’” Haywood-Smith explains. Feeling disconnected from his past and ancestry after the death of a parent, Haywood-Smith made a conscious effort to better understand his identity and unique Black experience living in the predominantly white province of Manitoba. Slingshot is a self-portrait of JayWood at his surface and his depths, merging fantasy scenarios, personal anecdotes, and infectious pop and dance instrumentals.

Watch “Just Sayin” Video

Watch “God is a Reptile” Video

Pre-order Slingshot

Keep your mind open.

[I’d thank you for subscribing.]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]