Earlier this month, we tipped you guys off to YYU’s new 12-inch, and now we have the distinct pleasure of premiering both tracks from the single, “Kiss As We Walk” and “When We Are Old.” In service of balance and equilibrium, the single — YYU’s first physical release since 2012’s TIMETIMETIME&TIME (a.k.a. #9 on our Favorite Albums of 2012 list) — showcases the two predominant, complementary sides of the 21-year-old Kansas native.
A-Side “Kiss As We Walk” most resembles the choppy, digital aesthetic of TIMETIMETIME&TIME. The track’s repetition inscribes a fricative, consonant grid of pitch-shifted utterances and chattering teeth, with its deep bass occasionally shaking the relative stability of the song’s delicately looped phrases. “When We Are Old” plays it straighter, despite its bifurcated structure. Here, YYU gently finger-plucks his nylon in a minimal, in-the-bathroom style that later transitions into a hearty sing-along replete with layered birdsong, harkening back to the guitar-driven tracks off earlier unofficial releases like MILKMILKMILKMILKMILKMILK and moo.2. While the tracks are stylistically different, they sound unmistakably like YYU, boasting the kind of deviating structures and inspired major-seventh harmonies that are now hallmarks of his aesthetic.
The “Kiss As We Walk” 12-inch is out this week on UK-based label RAMP Recordings, a teaser of sorts for YYU’s next full-length, which will be out sometime in September. Check it out here:
• YYU: http://yyumoo.bandcamp.com
• RAMP: http://www.ramprecordings.com
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