Saya Gray Uploads ‘QWERTY II’ EP, Announces International Tour

Following the release of her QWERTY II EP, Japanese-Canadian art-pop artist Saya Gray has announced an international tour in support of her new record, with shows in the U.K., E.U. and North America set for late spring.

Gray released the seven-track QWERTY EP via Dirty Hit in May 2023, then delivered the seven-track follow-up last week—in a statement, the artist describes her QWERTY II EP as “a collection of ideas and collages stuck together as the ying to the yang of the first half.” The companion records sprung from Gray spending long stretches of 2023 isolated and uneasy with the increasingly blurred line between the digital and corporeal worlds. Gray’s music captures that inescapable tension, juxtaposing organic instrumentation with glitchy electronics.

“AA BOUQUET FOR YOUR 180 FACE” pairs flickering drum machines with laid-back, jazzy bass and keys, and textured guitar chords float through its chorus as Gray evokes “white noise in my ear lobes.” On “2 2 BOOTLEG,” she muses, “Lady bugs think / I’m a chrysanthemum,” but the serene natural imagery is soon replaced by techno-paranoia: “Are you, are you / a duplicate?” At times Gray can hardly stand all the artifice: “Tin cars carrying silicone tits / I hit my head on higher purpose,” she deadpans on “! EDIBLE THONG,” longing for something true.

Gray takes her QWERTY EPs on the road in just over a month, beginning with a May 16 stop in Brighton, U.K., and ending with a June 6 hometown show in Toronto. She’ll perform in Berlin, Paris, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Brooklyn along the way. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 5, at 10 a.m. local time.

See Gray’s complete tour itinerary below our Fresh Squeeze playlist and listen to QWERTY II here.

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