Jaywood is set to release his new album, Slingshot on July 15, 2022, via Royal Mountain Records
Jaywood – the moniker of Winnipeg musician & songwriter Jeremy Haywood-Smith – presents a new single/video, “Thank You.” The single is from his upcoming album, Slingshot, out July 15, 2022, via Royal Mountain Records & Captured Tracks.
The album’s penultimate track, “Thank You,” was co-produced with Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra and features string arrangements by Johan Lenox.
The song brings JayWood’s sound full circle, offering something reminiscent of Haywood-Smith’s earliest recordings while flaunting that “the best is yet to come.”
“‘Thank You’ is a song that’s dedicated to the folks that aren’t really in my life anymore, but more importantly it’s for my mom who passed away back in 2019.” says Haywood-Smith. “I feel like this song kinda wrote itself, it felt so easy to put together because I knew the core of what I was trying to get across. The demo for this song felt super strong but after Jake and I spent some time expanding a few ideas, the song really blossomed into something I couldn’t ever imagine.”
The charming accompanying video, directed by Chantel Simpson, shows Haywood-Smith passing out flowers across Harlem.
The narrative for his upcoming album, Slingshot takes place in one day. From the first track to the last, JayWood takes you on a journey that touches on themes of childhood, religion, and identity. While writing and recording the album, Haywood-Smith put together a complex “script” mapping out the plot points, environments, and characters that make up this surreal version of his real life.
Musically, Haywood-Smith wrote and performed a bulk of the track’s instrumentations. Still, the LP has notable appearances from Canadian contemporaries Ami Cheon and Mckinley Dixon and fellow Manitoban musician Kayla Fernandes who fronts the doom-metal band Vagina Witchcraft. Despite the culturally homogenous nature of his hometown, Haywood-Smith takes inspiration from a wide range of Black performers and artists working in all genres and eras.
“This album felt like I was making something that I would want my younger self to hear.”