Yuna
Yuna
(FADER)
Yuna, the self-titled album by the Malaysian singer/songwriter is gloriously stylish and endearing pop haze. It is not hard to wonder where her inspiration from the fount of early ’90s decorated songstresses comes from, such as Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries and Nina Persson of the Cardigans. All three have voices of that era that ring out with a sweet-like naiveté of cheerful pop-powered pensive lyrics on love, loss and life drowned in catchy hooks and comfy melodies. The bona fide “Live Your Life†is a feel-good reminder that dreams come to fruition by one truly being themselves. The track was also produced by Pharrell Williams of the supergroup N.E.R.D. known for their brash alternative rap/rock futuristic albums. Moodier are songs like “Fading Flower,†which warns against the perils of being seduced by outer beauty while “See You Go,†also produced by Pharrell, has a dizzyingly playful vibe as Yuna reaffirms her good-girl status against shuffling percussion and a flighty horn section. On YouTube, one can find her dismantling Kanye West’s “Paranoid,†Nirvana’s “Come As You Are,†and Incubus’s “I Miss You.†Each show off Yuna’s vocal vigor as she kindly turns them into orchestral and spacious songs that are extraordinary outside the confines of the worlds in which they were created. She does it all so effortlessly alone with her guitar. Yuna is not new to success and in her hometown she has been quite the celebrity for a long while. Last year, SPIN magazine featured Yuna in their piece “Eight Bands You Need to Hear Now.†Her crystal clear sound and delicacy is a promising and beautiful sentiment lost on most mainstream airways.
