Los Angeles, CA – PKAY wrote her debut LP alone in a car somewhere on California’s Highway 99.
She’d booked studio time in Los Angeles, several hours south of her home in Fresno. On her drives back and forth, she would hit record on her iPhone’s Voice Memos app and start singing.
Letters came out.
“My phone sets the recordings to wherever my location is and the location of my voice memos always shows up as CA 99 on my way to the recording studio,” she explains. “One night I got home to Fresno and looked down at my phone after writing my song, “HWY 99,” and it hit me: Letters from the 99.”
Given the unique context for its composition, it’s fitting that the nine-track record opens with an unusual device for a debut pop album: a 41-second, spoken-word introduction. Speaking over reverbed synths, PKAY sets the stage for her collection of songs. “You are in the driver’s seat now. Know that you are always enough, and persist until tomorrow.”
From there, the stories start.
“Memories” is the first track following the intro. It’s an aching recounting of a romance that didn’t last, leaving memories that did. Opening with acoustic guitar and backed by thin piano lines, it has a modern-country feel to it, augmented by tasteful drum machine elements that punch its points home.
Second track “Narcissist” details the slow, sad realization that the person you’re with is selfish – and that there’s no way past their narcissism. Built on an arpeggiated electric guitar riff and supplemented by an R&B soundscape, it’s engaging storytelling that serves as a showcase for PKAY’s standout vocals. Her voice is emotive – with even a bit of a growl to it at points – but impressively controlled for quickly enunciated lyrics. Think Taylor Swift, but with more soul.
The third track, “Sweater”, is perhaps PKAY at her most Swift-like; it’s an acoustic track, set to a descending, finger-picked guitar line that’s pure sonic nostalgia.
“Then I found your sweater
Underneath my dresser
All the memories flooding right back to me
Remember when you lost it to my bedroom closet
Used to tell me it looked so much better on me”
The song picks up percussive elements that carry it along its 2:45 run time, but it never outgrows the feeling that it could be performed just as effectively sitting alone on a bed as it could be in front of a crowd on a stage. It’s more impactful for that intimacy.
“Karma” brings back the electricity, with a driving beat and a catchy dose of anger: “All your fake friends secretly hate you,” PKAY sings in the verse, going on to outline her biting hope for an ex’s new relationship:
“Hope she makes your world spin round
And then you find out she’s been screwing everyone in town”
“HWY 99”, the record’s title track, scales things back with soft keys before diving into another heavy beat that underlies what might be the album’s snappiest chorus:
“Go ahead and paint me how you want to
Keep checking my life like it’s your version of the news”
Directed at girl drama, it’s cutting, relatable, and above all, catchy. “Superpowers” and “Girl in ur bed” maintain the same tone; the former features a clever lyrical play on the track’s title, while the latter laments the emptiness of hook-up culture.
On album-closer “Pls call me”, though, the tone shifts. PKAY switches from pissed off to plaintive, to great effect. Carried by broken chords on keys and slowly building strings, the song never adds percussion, but there’s a rhythm and a relatability to the chorus that give the song a haunting quality. It may be the strongest work of storytelling on the album – and on an album filled with raw stories, that’s saying something.
Letters from the 99 was released on February 22, 2022. It was produced by PKAY and James Gyerman and recorded at MIX Studios in Los Angeles. PKAY will be releasing more music throughout 2022.
Listen to Letters From The 99