Yuna

by Yuna

Overview

Seeing that Malaysian singer/songwriter Yuna's debut album is released by the Fader label, you may get the impression that the music is as forward-thinking as the magazine and website usually are. You'd be wrong for the most part, as Yuna falls almost totally in step with the wave of singer/songwriters making quietly confessional folk-pop that surrounds the vocals with polite and gentle arrangements that wouldn't sound out of place in a coffee shop or on the radio. Her songs are sweetly melancholy, the vocals are pleasantly sweet and sincere, and the overall feeling is innocently sweet and nice. Most of the album is the kind of background music that won't disturb you as you work through a crossword puzzle, as she sings of slightly broken hearts and missed connections in a way that is sad but not too blue. The only moments that truly stand out are the three songs produced by Pharrell Williams. They aren't club tracks by any means, but he does inject a little bit of excitement into the sound. The little things he adds to the mix, like the horn drops in "Bad Idea," the vocal harmonies and strings on "See My Name" (which also benefits from writing input from Chrisette Michele), and the smooth, cosmopolitan bounce of the album's stand-out song, "Live Your Life," really make a difference and help take the songs from the background to somewhere closer to the foreground. It's an approach Yuna would be wise to use on future recordings, because as nice as the rest of the album can be, it really takes off when she steps out of the coffee shop and hits the city streets. ~ Tim Sendra

Product Details

Release Date:	12/02/2022
Label:	Fader
UPC:	0842812178320
Rank:	56140

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Yuna   Primary Artist
James Bryan   Bass,Guitar,Keyboards
Marco Linares   Ukulele
Guy Sebastian   Guitar
Chris Braide   Guitar,Synthesizer
Kristoffer Sonne   Drums
Shafiq Vai   Guitar

Technical Credits

Andre Harris   Composer,Engineer,Producer
James Bryan   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Drum Programming,Keyboard Programming
Pharrell Williams   Composer,Producer
Guy Sebastian   Composer,Producer
Manny Marroquin   Mixing
Chris Braide   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Drum Programming,String Arrangements
Jon Cohen   Executive Producer
Rob Stone   Executive Producer
Andrew Coleman   Arranger,Engineer,Digital Editing
Joe LaPorta   Mastering
James Bryan McCollum   Composer
Brandon Kilgour   Engineer
Mike Larson   Arranger,Engineer,Digital Editing
Chrisette Payne   Composer
Kalani Fujimori   Design
Guillermo Lefeld   Assistant
Yuna Zarai   Composer
Rene Toledo Jr.   Assistant
Ben Willis   Executive Producer
Joshua Andriano   Executive Producer
Dyre Gorman   Engineer
Zel-Atif Ishak   Cover Photo
Yuna   Composer,Producer,Photography