(Dirty Hit)
There are some self-consciously experimental moments, but the Toronto musician’s genre-mashing songs of heartbreak are often focused and fresh

If not a genuine oddball, Saya Gray is at least a very entertaining self-stylist. A self-proclaimed “vagabond”, she has talked about having ESP and perfect pitch from birth. The Toronto producer and vocalist’s debut album proper can’t possibly live up to all this bluster but it is a thoroughly enjoyable ride: a set of elastic, translucent songs that draw equally from quirked-up TikTok music – think Kate Nash-style vocals, dreamy Frank Ocean production – as they do yacht rock, country and AOR.

Most contemporary genre-mash music is unsatisfying because it feels like the result of an inability to commit; Gray’s clear, direct, idiosyncratically referenced songs don’t have that problem. Puddle (of Me) sounds a little like Björk covering America; Thus Is Why (I Don’t Spring 4 Love) is a three-and-a-half minute survey of every popular sound circa 2009. There’s a universality to Gray’s lyrics – which, on Saya, are generally about heartbreak – that feels particularly sturdy and comforting on a crisp, serene song like Thus Is Why.