Kentucky-based, gothic blues ensemble Jaye Jayle have shared ‘Bloody Me’, the second single taken from their fifth full-length album, ‘After Alter’, set for release on the 31st of January, 2025 through Berlin’s Pelagic Records.
>> LISTEN TO ‘BLOODY ME’ NOW <<
Originally formed as an unfiltered outlet for the sounds inside the head of band leader Evan Patterson, Jaye Jayle has always been an unpredictable entity. In the beginning, the songs were short and lighthearted, written on acoustic guitar with no plans to release them or even perform them publicly but, within a year the private solo project had evolved into a full band and a full-length album: 2016’s haunting post-punk, kraut-blues debut ‘House Cricks and Other Excuses To Get Out’. Time is indeed a fickle thing, as Jaye Jayle’s forthcoming fifth album will attest.
An astounding collection of musical memories and emotional fragments, ‘After Alter’ is a body of work drawn together from previous recording sessions and previous lives in order to chart a driving, cathartic course into territories unknown. ‘Bloody Me’, the latest track shared from the album is Jaye Jayle’s janiform identity made manifest.
Written even before the band’s debut album, ‘Bloody Me’ is a bolshy, bass-driven punk rock retaliation to dressing up for Halloween because Patterson is always dressed for Halloween. However, the track appears twice on the record, with a tender solo acoustic retelling cut straight to wax at Third Man Records in Nashville, mere hours before Patterson saw Bob Dylan perform for the first time, bringing the album to an introspective close. Two sides of the same coin; this latest single ferocious and snarling, its symbiotic sister plaintive and bare, but both unapologetically Jaye Jayle.
As this duality of ‘Bloody Me’ shows, ‘After Alter’ serves as both a document of the band’s history and as a new beginning. By creatively exorcising these poignant moments, Jaye Jayle are opening themselves up to new inspirations and there is already much more to come.
‘After Alter’ is released on the 31st of January, 2025
