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Global psych rockers YĪN YĪN are on top of the world with their 3rd album Mount Matsu
Deeply informed by both the imaginative sound waves of the cosmos as well as the earthly musical culture of Japan, Mount Matsu is the reflection of a chaotic environment of influences slowly coming into focus. Infectious, strangely harmonious and highly energetic, the record is also the first by the band that came into being as the result of a truly democratic process among four befriended musicians. Mount Matsu is bound to do well in end of year lists for anyone into warm and tapey sounding psychedelic disco, fat global funk, electronics and tribal experiments
Pentatonic scales and unknown sonic territories
Hailing from Holland’s southernmost city of Maastricht, Yīn Yīn entered the scene back in 2019 with the Thai psychrock influenced album The Rabbit that Hunts Tigers, which was followed up in 2022 with the more spiritual and cosmic sounding The Age of Aquarius. Mount Matsu finds the band – who now live and record in a nearby Belgian countryside home and studio – somewhere in between the two first albums as their sound has gradually shifted towards instrumental traditional music of Sōkyoku, and a hint of citypop, but in their own unique way.
Sticking to pentatonic scales, the band’s largely instrumental sound – created with a unique set of instruments including vintage synthesizers and a traditional Chinese string instrument, the guzheng – features big jumps between notes with melodies that are easy to love as they draw the listener into unfamiliar territories.
Ascending to Matsu’s Height
The songs on Mount Matsu have – for the first time in Yīn Yīn’s lifetime – been co-created by all members of the band. “Art and ideas are personal and precious and the process of doing this truly together has been about more than just making an album, it was also a study of how collectives work,” notes Remy, Yīn Yīn’s bass player since day one. “It’s sometimes hard, seeing your own artistic ideas challenged being part of a group, but we’re very proud of the result. When you truly co-create, literally every sound on a record has been tested and thought through. We have decided to only use vocals sparsely, which leaves plenty of room for the listener’s imagination: you can really let your fantasy run wild as you listen and dance to it. The process of creation felt like the tedious but very satisfying ascent of a mountain, hence the title of the record: Mount Matsu.
YĪN YĪN is
Kees Berkers – drums
Remy Scheren – bass
Erik Bandt – guitar
Robbert Verwijlen – keyboards
Discography
2024 – Mount Matsu (Glitterbeat Records)
2022 – The Age Of Aquarius (Glitterbeat Records)
2019 – The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers (Bongo Joe Records)
