Jay Som - Past Lives (feat. Hayley Williams)

Q4 W41 New Music 2025

Jay Som – Past Lives (feat. Hayley Williams)

Jay Som shares “Past Lives” featuring Hayley Williams, the final single before her album Belong drops this Friday. It’s Melina Duterte’s first full-length under the Jay Som name in six years, and her first album to include collaborations—this one also features Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World on “Float”.

Duterte and Williams go back to 2018 when Jay Som opened for Paramore. They’ve been talking about working together ever since, finally making it happen in Nashville with producer Steph Marziano. Williams adds soft harmonies that lock into the song’s melancholic drift, built around guitar and a clean drum groove. The track went through multiple phases during production. Duterte reworked the guitars, vocals, and intro to match Williams’ voice, spending six hours in the studio to get it right. Williams came through with layered vocal ideas, and every take was included in the final version.

The song captures that feeling of cycling through emotional lows, trying to restart, only to watch momentum fade again. Its midsection drops into a quieter space before building back up. Beyond her own work, Duterte has become a prolific producer, collaborating on recent records with Whitmer Thomas, Hatchie, and her backing band, Fime. She also toured with boygenius a couple of years back.