Bewilderment by Pale Jay

Soul music has had its ups and downs here on the Top 31. From Seattle’s own Pickwick hitting #1 back in 2011, to Leon Bridges and St. Paul & the Broken Bones, to the goddess herself, Sharon Jones in 2017 (RIP), the genre remains alive and well. Enter Pale Jay, a newcomer to the field, with his debut album, Bewilderment. With a voice like Lee Fields or Curtis Mayfield, and easy-living music evocative of Khruangbin, Pale Jay will have you leaning back in your chair and blissfully dreaming about easy breezy summer days.

There’s not much information out there about Pale Jay. He has no wikipedia page, he plays anonymously, and his web presence is boiled down to a single Bandcamp page. He does maintain an active Instagram account, a la SAULT or Banksy. The music on his page only goes back to his first EP, back in October 2021. And aside from a couple singles, this short-but-sweet debut album (with eight songs and coming in at just 24 minutes) is all we get of him. I did find a site reviewing this album who claims Pale Jay was trained as a jazz vocalist and pianist and calls southern California home.

There have been a few artists over the years here on the Top 31 who have chosen to keep their identity a mystery. Some choose to wear obfuscating makeup, such as The Knife or Fever Ray (2009 and 2017). Others choose to stay out of videos and remain unnamed, like Sault (2019, 2020, 2021, and who could forget their SEVEN albums that were #1 collectively just last year). Or there’s artists like Orville Peck, who have worn a mask in public for their entire musical career, and have never dropped character when the public is watching or listening.

Pale Jay fits into the Peck line of anonymity. But whereas Orville Peck has been around long enough that people have been able to put together who his true identity is (thanks to matching up the tattoos he wears all over his body), Pale Jay remains entirely anonymous for the time being. He wears a red balaclava in public (reminiscent of Pussy Riot, who choose to remain relatively anonymous for fear of retribution from the Russian Government), along with a white bucket hat with a red plastic brim. Those combined generally with an all-white turtleneck and white pants, he is effectively covered from head to toe aside from his (yes, pale-skinned) hands, ankles, lips, eyes, and sometimes forearms. (It’s only a matter of time before someone identifies him by the bird tattoo on his left inner elbow.)

You can watch videos Pale Jay has created for each song on the album, each featuring the artist in his signature costume, mostly walking / biking / boating in one long take to each of these songs.

There’s also this video for a beautiful acoustic rendition of “By The Lake” that will set aside any worries that Pale Jay is unable to master that gorgeous falsetto in a live setting. I chose the featured video above only because it has him driving while lip syncing, with others blissfully trusting their lives to the masked man behind the wheel.

Put Bewilderment on, right now. It’s a short, 24 minute commitment, and you won’t be disappointed. I guarantee it.

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Room 25 by Noname

I’ve spoken before about the distinct lack of gender parity within my musical tastes; I’ve never had more than ten woman-led acts on any Top 31. And gender is not the only place where the Bacon Review lacks diversity. Without doing a formal count, it looks like I’ve not had more than 20 non-white acts within the entire 10-year run of the Bacon Top 31. Not just in one year, but in all years, combined. The Venn diagram between those two minority representations within the Top 31 is consequently miniscule: I count six women of color across all past Top 31s — Sharon Jones (R.I.P.), Mitski, Grace Love, Beyoncé, FKA Twigs, and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes.

For the last few years, I’ve been pushing my musical boundaries, embracing albums that might never have made it into my purview 10, 15, 20 years ago. Enter Chicago’s Fatimah Nyeema Warner, better known by her stage name Noname. Female, African-American, jazz and neo-soul fueled rap is nowhere near my comfort zone. And yet, here we are.

While Room 25 is Warner’s debut, the word “debut” is dubious here. She’s been on the scene since 2013, when she appeared on the second mixtape from Chance the Rapper (whose own 2016 mixtape, Coloring Book, would definitely have been on the Top 31 that year had I only heard it in time — when listening outside of my comfort zone, it can take a little bit longer for the music to reach my ears). Since then, Warner made guest appearances on many people’s own albums, and released her own mixtape in 2016 that I have yet to hear.

Regardless of your musical proclivities, there’s something for everyone on this album. If you’re reading this and you’re a friend of mine, then it’s probably not something you’d normally listen to. But give it a shot — I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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25. WARM by Jeff Tweedy
26. God's Favorite Customer by Father John Misty
27. Vessel by Frankie Cosmos
28. For Ever by Jungle
29. Twerp Verse by Speedy Ortiz
30. Remain in Light by Angélique Kidjo
31. This One’s for the Dancer & This One’s for the Dancer’s Bouquet by Moonface

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#21 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Pale Jay

#24 on the 2018 Bacon Top 31 — Noname