GRAMMYs 2021 Nominee - Best Dance Recording

Her first new material since 2019’s debut album “Significant Changes” arrives with a great deal of anticipation—clips floating around online of Jayda teasing ‘Both Of Us’ in her DJ sets quickly led to an influx of messages requesting more information and pleading for an official release. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” she says. “I really wondered if releasing the record right now was the right thing to do. Things can feel really fucking depressing at the moment, but the amount of messages I’ve been getting about the track, even during lockdown when people are unable to even be in clubs or at festivals, that really convinced me that now was the right time.” 

As with “Significant Changes”—which contains many references to her work studying the environment—on “Both Of Us / Are U Down” Jayda distils her interests and surroundings once more. The resulting EP is a dichotomy of old and new, equal parts nostalgia and of breaking new ground.

‘Both Of Us’ is an upbeat throwback to the dancefloors of the past, drawing on Jayda’s love of classic, uplifting house, the kind she digs for and plays religiously in her DJ sets and during her recent year-long BBC Radio 1 Residency. “I wanted to make a happy house song” she explains, “the uplifting vocal, the slow breakdown, the release, those are a key part of so many of those classic house tracks I’ve found through digging over the years, and I really wanted to emulate the feeling I get from those” 

In contrast, ‘Are U Down’ presents a new, slightly grittier and more sombre side to Jayda’s sound, something she attributes to her recent move from Berlin to London and her subsequent immersion into UK dance music culture. The lyrics and title, a reference to the feelings of uncertainty and excitement of exploring something new, could just as easily be applied to the circumstances many of us find ourselves in now.

Both tracks were born out of a meeting with Fred again..—the BRIT Award-winning and Ivor Novello nominated artist who recently collaborated with Headie One, Jamie xx, fka Twigs and Sampha on the ‘GANG’ mixtape. The two quickly struck up a friendship and agreed to get into the studio together. “It’s a nice switch up to have a different energy” says Jayda, “I’d been missing that after the album, which was mostly just me, with Allie (Alexa Dash) on some of the vocals. Working with Fred was great, because I can just be my dorky self and not be judged.”

The EP is completed by two remixes—the ‘Sunset Bliss Mix’ named as another homage to the club remixes of old—and a video for ‘Both Of Us’ is also released today alongside the single. 

Jayda G’s debut album “Significant Changes” was met with incredible praise from the likes of The Guardian, Mixmag - who made Jayda their ‘cover star’, Pitchfork, Dazed, Resident Advisor, Crack, NME and many more. She followed up the release with a month-long residency at London’s Phonox, the launch of both her science-based interview series ‘JMG Talks’ and new club night ‘JMG Sessions’, and a BBC Essential Mix packed with soul, classic disco and house, before taking up her year-long stint on BBC R1’s Residency show. She also toured relentlessly throughout 2019, taking in shows across 12 countries including performances at Primavera Sound, Kala and Lente Kabinet (Dekmantel's sister event), Glastonbury, Nuits Sonores and Dimensions festivals.

Following her contribution to the Club Quarantäne livestream series, Jayda announced her own ‘Virtual Get Downs’ tour, supporting the venues in which she would have otherwise been playing in Glasgow, Tokyo and San Francisco. ‘Both Of Us’ has been nominated for a 2021's Best Dance Recording GRAMMY.

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