Jaymay

“Gray or Blue“
from the album Autumn Fallin’
2007
iTunes

The 26-year-old Jaymay, a.k.a. Jamie Seerman, vividly crafts series of vignettes that play like a novel, illustrating the intensity and incredible emotion that come with the highs and lows of an involving relationship in a setting as alive as New York City. With “Gray or Blue,“ the songstress boldly declares the sum of her strengths: “I’m winning you with words because I have no other way.” Gracefully singing atop the intimacy of acoustic guitars, xylophone taps, and egg shakes, Jaymay also embraces accompaniment from organs and strings on standouts like “Blue Skies.” With the lyrical dexterity of Bob Dylan and a stylish scat reminiscent of Madeline Peyroux or Billie Holiday, Jaymay also arrives with her own brand of introspection and intonation that fills the gaps and truly sets her apart from the pack.

It’s been famously noted that ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,’ but heartbreak has never sounded so heavenly on Jaymay’s full length debut, Autumn Fallin’. And with her unmistakably undulated vocals channeled through cute but crushing catharsis, Jaymay may be set to revel in the crowning glory of pop-rock chanteuses past. After performing with the likes of other similarly soul-bearing songsmiths from Bright Eyes to Beirut to Okkervil River throughout the UK, Jaymay is all set to make a big splash stateside. Catch Jaymay at Austin, TX’s SXSW March 15 at Hit Sheet Magazine’s Quirky Somethings Party (3:00 P.M. at Maggie Mae’s).

Jaymay’s lyrics are powerful and utterly poetic, and create a consistent flow in her songs, so it was nothing short of a shock to have some of her selections — in both verse and haiku form — kindly rejected by The New Yorker in December 2007.