Jay RAY – New Single Leave the Past is Out

After four years of absence since his last own composition that was Cold Light, Jay Ray is finally back with his brand new single Leave the Past. It is still hot from the press and my headphones will run out of juice before I stop the loop. This new single brings it on, like Jay Ray has accustomed us to… a well-balanced mix of harsh and clean vocals, he grabs us into a four plus minutes journey we did not know we needed.

You know a song is good when you get all smooshy inside, emotional and covered in shivers… you know that a song is great, when after ten, twenty, thirthy times you’ve listened to it in a loop, you still get the same reaction. Leave the Past is great!

On a personnal note, today – December 12th, is my nephew’s birthday and was my late grandfather’s birthday – the storyteller… so this makes Leave the Past extra special to me ❤️

Jay Ray is one of those artists I miss when he is away for too long… so believe me, I have missed him and his “unique blend of electro-cinematic rock and metal” genre (as Wikipedia calls it). They got it right though, it is unique. The eloctro sound in Leave the Past sounds very particular to Jay Ray‘s music. It is his artistic signature which is impossible to mistake with anything else.

The more I listen to the song the more I want to write about it… but where to begin?

An emotional first listen

My friend Erika reminded me about the premiere of Leave the Past, but I’d already missed it, by 16 minutes… bummer! Since then, I have been playing the single on a loop, almost as an apologie to Jay Ray for not being at the premiere as I had promised… and also, I so love the song. In truth, I had no expectation about it, mostly because Jay Ray‘s musical universe is a very well-known place to me. I always enjoy returning to these “out of this world” spheres. Yet, they are rather introverted places where it is safe to be yourself and scream to your heart’s content… until you’ve expulsed all the negative to keep only the positive within. So satisfying!

Today, I was very excitted to listen to new music by Jay Ray… and so it began… “Activate!” the song starts in an upbeat tempo and does not stop until the first chorus. I was not paying attention until I did, and turned my focus to the lyrics. I called them simple, as in simple words we can all understand and relate to in the blink of a listen. So I was, sitting in front of my computer, headphones with cranked up sound on, head lightly leaning on my hand… I listened… reading the lyrics, my eyes were welling up a bit, my body was getting covered with shivers… uncontrollable feelings, emotions.

My mind started racing in all possible scenarios, between what I had lived, what I had left behind and what I had found again. In the back of my mind, Jay Ray‘s own  journey echoeing as well… I could not help but feel overwhelmed, and yet utter joy was the dominant emotion in my heart.  The verses that did it lie in the chorus:

Raise the day
Drown the noise […]
Find your voice
Leave the past

This actually made me shed a few tears. No sadness, no happiness… pure emotion of the voice in me realizing that someone else was singing the same refrain. It is quite magical when that happens because there is this sense of belonging we all long for, and a genuine connection is made… with the artist and all who care to listen…

Yes, I felt all that… all at once, and I did not explode 😅.

A few listens later

Elated… headphones still on, standing on the balcony… dancing and letting my body experience the music, letting out both voices in my head into one: Jay Ray‘s. I found myself smiling and suddenly my eyes filled up with tears again… could this be joy? The joy of what hope can bring to your heart…

If you really need it
Close your eyes
And you believe it

Out of nowhere, these words recalled a verse from Poets of the Fall, Can You Hear Me, that I had recently listened to:

And you can have what you want if you want it like you need to breathe

They are on the same wave lenght these gents… no wonder why I love them all to pieces. I weight my words here… but there is no way you can produce such artistry, profound connections and relatable emotions, and not be an exceptional human being. Not a hero, no an all-powerful or whatnot, a real good warm-hearted person… that is what and exceptional human being is to me.

Sorry, sidetracked here… I think – and this engages only me – that when you are such a good person, and you are that creative as Jay Ray has shown us so many times over that he is, the art you produce will touch people in a profound way – almost in an elemental way, if that makes sense.

Today, Leave the Past has touched me to tears without grief. A sort of acceptance of what is for what it is… Joy and uplifting thoughts that I can – as you will easily notice – barely express in a coherent manner. This new single is, I hope, a promise that what lies ahead is bright, filled with hope and kindness… one step at a time.

Jay Ray, thank you for this great song that Leave the Past is.

Dear readers… thank you for stopping by.

As always, “do take care of yourselves so that you can better care for your loved ones.”

Cheers – I leave you now in company of Jay Ray and his brand new single Leave the Past