To get over a breakup, Saya Gray booked a flight to Japan. “Even though I wasn’t raised in Japan, it’s in my blood and my upbringing,” she tells PAPER.
After that cross-country journey, the Japanese-Canadian singer-songwriter went to California where she drove across the whole state. The mixture of both locations — the mountains, the desert and the forest — are what shaped her debut album, SAYA, out now.
Though Gray has been in the business for a minute now, having released multiple LPs and toured with renowned artists like WILLOW and Daniel Caesar, SAYA feels like a proper welcome for fans to get a more direct glimpse into the artist’s visions. “I don’t even know what to call a lot of the music that I make,” she says. “I usually don’t even try to label it.”
The album is characteristically a hybrid of genre and sound, blending art-pop, R&B, nature field recordings and analog-acoustic interplay. Whereas Gray usually would hop straight to the computer to start sampling once she had a song idea, this time was different. “Just being able to write a full song on guitar and not even touch my computer was such a nice, refreshing experience,” she says. Nature and those two post-breakup adventures inspired it all.
“I had so much space that, for the first time, I didn’t try to fill it. I just wrote about it and kept writing through it.” That space allowed Gray to tap into more raw, emotional places. Tracks like “PUDDLE ( OF ME )” came together in one sitting, an unfiltered outpouring of feeling. Others, like “H.B.W.” — short for “Heartbreak Wake” — reflect the personal rituals she adopted to process the emotional fallout. “Keep your body moving, keep the creative going,” she says of navigating heartbreak. “Metaphysically and physically move the energy out of your body. Don’t let it stagnate.”
For an artist who’s built a reputation on eclectic, genre-fluid music, SAYA feels like her most cohesive statement yet — not because it fits neatly into any category, but because it doesn’t try to. It exists in its own world, much like Gray herself.
We caught up with Gray to discuss the importance of SAYA, Michael Jackson and what practices from Japan she infuses in her everyday life.
Congrats on your debut album finally being out in the world. Are you excited?
Yeah. It’s been nice to be out while it’s happening, you know? Because I actually get to see the impact of it.
What emotions are you feeling leading up to the release?
I don’t know, I feel like I kind of keep it moving. I’ve never been one to hang on to release dates or anything. I’m just like, “Wait, what’s happening?” They’re like, “The single’s out!” And it’s two days after that I realize. I’m just a little bit in my own world.
The main thing that stuck out to me was how this album pops across different genres so seamlessly. How do you approach blending such diverse sounds while still maintaining a cohesive narrative?
I think it’s just intuitive at this point because of all the music I listen to. I never am someone who references anything. I’m never like, “This is gonna sound like this, and this is gonna sound like that.” I just write the song, and it ends up taking its own form. It seems like something cool to do, but I’ve just never done that myself. So in terms of genre, I don’t even know what to call a lot of the music that I make. I usually don’t even try to label it. It’s just too confusing. It’s subconscious from all the music I grew up on and listen to.
You’ve toured with some major artists, but now with this huge debut solo album. What is your dream tour setting or vibe?
I mean, I have all of my childhood friends in the band. So I kind of already have the ultimate situation. I think having that experience of playing live with other people just made it so that I could make my own live show, which is awesome to have a smaller team put together and be super hands on. It kind of just gave me the skill set to do that, which is really cool.
Your music has been described as a mosaic of endless influence. Are there any unconventional artists or genres that people would be surprised you listen to?
I listen to a lot of nature sounds. I have a lot of literal field recordings of environments. I find that really inspiring. There isn’t anything really shocking, I don’t know. I listen to a lot of jazz, old R&B and ’70s/’80s. I love Michael Jackson. That’s a big one. But no, I don’t listen to a lot of post-2010 music. I’m like an old man.
What’s your favorite Michael Jackson era?
Oh my God. “Remember the Time.” That whole world. Obviously, Thriller. It’s just good memories for me because when I was younger, I would just play those on bass. Those were my first bass covers. Michael Jackson’s “Ease On Down the Road.” He’s always got a place in my heart.
I was just rewatching the “Bad” music video last night, the whole Martin Scorsese 20-minute one.
It’s so good. It’s too good. He was an alien sent from somewhere else.
I saw that you went on a journey through Japan post-breakup?
Yeah, Japan and California. I did all of California and went all the way through Japan. It was interesting. I think the mountains and the desert and the forest really shaped this record. All the space. I had so much space that, for the first time, I just didn’t try to fill it. I just wrote about it and kept writing through it.
What was the most unexpected song or life lesson that came out of that adventure?
I think when I wrote “PUDDLE ( OF ME ).” I just wrote the entire thing in one sitting. A lot of these songs were like that. They were just moments. We had to pick out of lots of songs which ones were not going to make [the album], because obviously there were a lot of feelings and a lot of writings throughout this entire process. But I think just being able to write a full song on guitar and not even touch my computer was such a nice, refreshing experience. That’s the biggest thing I took from it, was challenging myself. Usually, I would go straight to the computer and start sampling. I would fall back as the front face and just go back behind production, but this time is different.
More analog.
Yeah, it’s just like I write the songs and then go into the studio and worry about the production later. Worry about the songs and the lyrics first.
“H.B.W.” stands for “Heartbreak Wake.” Could you share a personal ritual or practice that helped you navigate through heartbreak during the making of SAYA?
I think just keep it moving. Keep your body moving, keep the creative going. Document it in some way, whether that’s through fitness, creation, through some object you make. Metaphysically and physically move the energy out of your body. Don’t let it stagnate, whatever that may be.
If your music was a flower, what flower would it be?
I’m just a chrysanthemum girl. It’s also the Japanese in my heart. I love chrysanthemums. It’s funny, I’m more of a plant person, too. I love snake plants. I love spider plants. Venus fly traps. I like plants, but I do love a chrysanthemum.
Are there any traditions or rituals from Japan that you maintain in your everyday life?
Meditation. A lot of Asian modalities that I do as well like qigong, in the past I did a lot of tai chi. it’s in my blood and my upbringing. Even though I wasn’t raised in Japan, it’s in my blood and my upbringing. Culturally, it’s definitely very important to me.
Keep your body moving, keep the creative going. Document it in some way, whether that’s through fitness, creation, through some object you make.
Photography: Jennifer Cheng