Saya Gray Lets the Weirdness Loose on QWERTY III
Nate Kline
Written by Nate Kline in Sonic Journeys Music

Saya Gray Lets the Weirdness Loose on QWERTY III

There’s a certain freedom in making music without worrying too much about what comes next. No grand statement, no pressure to deliver the definitive album. Just follow an idea wherever it takes you. That’s the territory Saya Gray likes to explore with her QWERTY series, and the Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist is back for another round.

Released via Dirty Hit, QWERTY III is a seven-track collection of experiments, strange turns, and musical ideas that don’t necessarily fit anywhere else. And that’s precisely the point.

Between Projects, Anything Goes

Gray describes the QWERTY releases as experiments between projects, even calling them “the throwaways.” They’re a creative outlet for ideas that emerge during periods of change, without the pressure of becoming part of a bigger artistic statement. As she explains, she’d rather make something honest than something that simply fits in. Given the state of the world, she also sees these little mixtapes as a way of documenting the strange times we’re living in.

It’s an interesting contrast to SAYA, her 2025 full-length album. Shaped partly by a period of personal transformation during a retreat to Japan, the record brought a more cohesive direction to her songwriting. It earned a JUNO Award nomination and a place on the Polaris Music Prize shortlist. But Gray clearly has no intention of staying in one creative lane.

A Little Beautiful Chaos

The QWERTY series began in 2023, following her unconventional 2022 debut 19 MASTERS, a collection of dissonant electro-rock sketches recorded largely using her iPhone’s Voice Notes app. Since then, Gray has continued to mix melodic songwriting with unexpected textures, fuzzed-out guitars, and electronic experimentation.

On QWERTY III, tracks like “YOU??? HUH???” and “SPOOO0OOOOF” offer a taste of that unpredictable approach. Her background as a bassist and her upbringing with two classically trained musician parents add further layers to an already fascinating musical imagination.

Header photography by Jennifer Cheng.

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