Issue 113 / April-May 2021

AMBER JAY
Bravely peering around the corner, Lily Blakeney-Edwards channels the spooky, spine-tingling
atmospherics of the electro-pop star.
AMBER JAY hates scary films, something
she confesses sitting in her family home,
surrounded by her pets and the sounds of
suburban mundanity. It’s a truth that offers its
own jolt of surprise.
Anyone who’s come across the young artist’s
eerie, dark-pop sensibilities would expect her to be a
horror flick fanatic. Eventually, however, there’s a telling
explanation. “I always obsess over the soundtracks,
though,” adding to her earlier statement. “I love it when
songs have a haunting influence on them; it gives them
such an intriguing atmosphere.” She pauses, before
continuing. “You know, that
white noise they play in horror
films sometimes? The kind of
noise where you don’t realise
it’s there, but it creates a really
unnerving atmosphere? It scares
you without you even knowing,
it’s like a subconscious effect.
When you can introduce that in
music, it makes it so much more
interesting.” She struggles to
contain laughter when concluding:
“The darker the better!”
We tail off and natter about
how much we long for pints and
fuzzy nights out. Her warmth is
transfixing, but alongside it resides longing, a glimpse in
her eyes that signals the young artist’s ambition. “To be
honest, I just want to get back into the studio and record,”
she admits, with noticeable drive.
Despite only appearing on the scene a few years
back, Jay has already carved out an artistic persona that
shines among the crowd. Inspired by spooky synth-pop
and modern-day indie darlings, she has quickly built up
a collection of tracks that walk the line of brooding and
bouncy – the ideal recipe for earworms. Her work ethic has
granted impressive results, with the artist releasing her
debut EP Never Too Far From A Dark Thought in March.
“It’s my first real body of work out there,” she tells
me. “I recorded a whole album when I was about 17 and,
as soon as I finished it, I hated it and never put it out. So,
while I’ve been writing and recording and performing
since I was a teenager, I’ve never had anything that really
captured me as an artist. To have a full body of work out
that really demonstrates what I do is amazing; I can’t get
over how happy I am with it.”
While Jay’s appetite has always motivated her to
push her musical abilities, she previously struggled to
match her talents with her identity as an artist. That was
until last year, which marked a dramatic transformation in
the artist’s persona and sound. “Previously, when I was
in this spoken-word band, we always used to write about
“I love it when
songs have
a haunting
influence”
topics like the NHS or homelessness and create a power
anthem around it,” she tells me. “I really miss it, [but] as
fun as it was, I had no idea of the direction I wanted to
go. The artist I was previously was good, but it wasn’t the
sort of music I want to make.”
This soon changed as Jay started working with
Scouse staples Zuzu and Munkey Junkey, who quickly
helped her find her sound. “I think working with different
artists around Liverpool really helped me embrace
different perspectives,” she explains. “I saw a post on
Instagram from Kurran [Karbal, aka Munky Junkey]
saying that he had set up a studio space. I sent him a
message out of the blue asking if
I could record there. He was really
lovely about it. I think they were
expecting me to want to stick to
the sound of my previous work,
but I was ready for my tracks to
have a new energy. I wanted it to
sound playful, to have fun and be
experimental, so I basically told
him there were no rules.”
Jay seems ecstatic now,
thinking about the wide-open
parameters of the recording
process. “I definitely think that
working with them has made such
a positive impact on my sound.
They were so encouraging as well; I’m not someone
who’s mega confident, but they really helped with that
just by telling me to be myself.”
With that, Jay evolved into an artist rooted in what
could be loosely regarded as horror pop. Littered with
looming synths that fester under Jay’s subtle vocals, the
acoustic backbone of the tracks remained, only electrified
by an eerie flair. “I write all my songs on guitar, so that
acoustic element is just there naturally. That’s the nature
of it, it all starts out from my guitar, but then, when I get
into a studio, I can introduce those beats and electronic
elements that make it sound edgier,” she tells me. “I also
take a lot of notes from Billie Eilish and artists who have
softer voices like mine. When they’re put against nontraditional
productions that you would associate with that
type of voice, it sounds amazing.”
The EP consists of five tracks that each present a
different persona within the overarching atmosphere
of the record. The House plays on the panic of being
apart from someone through relentless synth stabs and
distorted vocals. The closing track, Person, is softer and
ballad-like, utilising stripped-back arrangements to detail
the void of heartbreak.
“A lot of the songs are inspired by my own
relationships. Break-ups and heartbreak I felt, all that
lovely stuff of life,” she says with a grin. While Jay’s
FEATURE
own experience forms a large part of the narrative, it’s
not entirely autobiographical. “I’m inspired a lot by TV
and films and I like to write about the stories I see,” she
explains. “With TV, especially, the emotions are all there
for you and it’s so hyper and dramatic that I find myself
getting lost in it.”
The tracks are wildly diverse in intent, yet despite the
range of influences, it becomes apparent how much work
across the project was done single-handedly by Jay. “For
artwork I actually bought an iPad because I was trying
to find an artist who could work with me, but because of
lockdown it proved very hard, so I did it myself. Can you
tell?!” We both laugh. “But really, I loved doing it because
it feels home-made and every bit of the release comes
from me. I love collaboration, but when you’re trying to
communicate what you want to another person, you’re
always afraid it can come off as something different from
your previous vision.”
The dedication shows. From the dramatic vocal
pauses on Stay The Same, to the wall of harmonies on
My Own Way, Jay dissolves her personality into every
aspect of the works to a charming effect. What could
have been likable tracks in raw form are transformed into
playful, electronic stompers.
“I really hope my personality shines out in it. A lot
of the songs, although about dark subjects, are really
playful,” she says, with a smile. “If people can connect to
them, and maybe see a bit of themselves in the songs,
I would love that. When you listen to a song, you write
yourself into the narrative. The best songs are honest,
because people can really connect with them.”
It’s impressive that Jay is able to show so much of her
artistic persona so early in her career, but has an outlook
that surpasses any sense of herself. “By putting things
out and sharing them with people, you can really criticise
it and pick it apart, because then it’s not just your own.
It’s such a strange thing that happens,” she tells me. “As
much as I love the EP, I’m still looking out for ways it
could be different, or what I want to do next time.”
The call to the future may seem surprising
considering how recent her last release was, but Jay’s
ambition shines through once again. “I’ve got so much
stuff I’ve been sitting on for a long time, so I just want to
get back into the studio and record,” she announces with
vigour. “Only by doing can you get the ball rolling.” !
Words: Lily Blakeney-Edwards / @lilyhbee
Illustration: Abigail Smith / @camisado_design
Never Too Far From A Dark Thought is available now.
@iamamberjay
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