The big festival stages from Coachella to Glastonbury and her remixes for Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa seem to have left an audible mark on Jayda G. On her second album »Guy«, the house queen blossoms into a real pop star. The pre-release single »Meant To Be« gives a hint of this, and the rest of the material has hit potential too, compressed into a compact, radio-friendly three and a half minutes. Her sweet and catchy vocals dominate the new songs – not tracks! – in which she arranges her R’n’B, disco and house influences with a light touch.
At the same time, when you listen to the lyrics, »Guy« reveals itself to be a very personal and at times thought-provoking work. Dedicated to her father William Richard Guy, whose voice can also be heard in the intros and interludes, Jayda G sings mostly about him and his struggles: from the Vietnam War and the racial unrest to his new beginning in Canada and his death. But she also celebrates her grandmother’s strength (»When She Dance«) and ends by singing the optimistic mantra of overcoming even great adversity over and over again. This fits in with the album’s relaxed, summery, upbeat musical style and shows that storytelling can also work on the dancefloor.
