Nat Jay is excited to share the first single off her upcoming album! 'Sleep' is now available on all digital platforms. Read on to hear the story behind "Sleep."
I wrote “Sleep” with my producer Ovi on a day we were particularly tired. We both have difficulty with our health and this affects our sleep very much. "How did you sleep?" became one of the first questions we would ask each other upon arriving at the studio.
For Ovi, his health condition has turned him into an insomniac. One day Ovi described to me how he feels like he lives in two different worlds: one in the daytime, where he has his normal family life and works on music at his studio, and one where it's just him against the night, where he is so tired and tries everything to fall asleep, but sleep doesn't come.
On the day we wrote "Sleep," we both came into the studio exhausted, and I thought, "What could we possible produce today that is in any way good." But then Ovi started playing with those bell sounds that you can hear at the beginning, and to me they felt like "sleepy sounds," so I told Ovi I was going to write a song about sleep for him, and decided to try and create that nighttime world he had described to me.
After writing the song, it has morphed into a bigger picture for me on how difficult it is to live with a physical illness, a mental illness, or a disability, to find an escape from it, and to try and reconcile this part of ourselves with the ambitions of our everyday lives.
I chose this song as the first single as it always felt like the coolest track on the album. Its pentatonic-like melody gives it an eerie quality that is supported by descriptive lyrics and ghostly production, and it feels like all those elements combined to create the exact sound I wanted to introduce this album and my new, more electronic sound.
Sleep helps our bodies and minds recover and reset, but so can listening to music, so I hope this song brings you some positive energy, as writing it did for me.
You can listen to "Sleep" here: bnd.lc/sleep
I hope this finds you well, friends and I looking forward to connecting with you much more often this Fall. Your support means the world as I release my new art into the universe!
With love + music,
Nat Jay
