About

YĪN YĪN, the highly touted Dutch quartet from Maastricht, returns with a sonically expansive third album "Mount Matsu". Recorded collectively in their own studio in the Belgian countryside, the album is a kaleidoscope of sounds and influences, occupying a no man’s land between Khruangbin and Kraftwerk, surf music and Southeast Asian psychedelia, Stax soul and mutant 80s disco, City pop and Japanese instrumental folk (sōkyoku).

This LP sees YĪN YĪN at their most mature and adventurous stage yet. Infectious pentatonic melodicism calling for multiple rewinds. While their earlier releases were a result of the chemistry between its founding members, drummer Kees Berkers and multi-instrumentalist Yves Lennertz (who recently left the band), the group’s lineup change has brought forward a more democratic creative mode. Members Remy Scheren (bass), Robbert Verwijlen (keys) and Erik Bandt (guitar) from the onset joined Berkers in the songwriting process, making the music on Mount Matsu much more than a sum of its kaleidoscopic influences. — (via Label)

YĪN YĪN's first two albums creatively fused Southeast Asian melodies and instrumentation with pulsating electro-disco rhythms, all through a neo-psychedelic lens. Following a lineup change (founding member Yves Lennertz left and Erik Bandt joined on guitar), the Dutch group recorded their third album in the Belgian countryside, and became a more collaborative unit during the songwriting process.

For this record, the group cite Japanese instrumental folk, city pop, and Stax soul among their influences. They seem to have gotten into more polished, radio-friendly disco and funk this time, rather than sequencer-heavy cosmic disco, as there's more of a live band feel to their dance grooves. They've also increased the presence of hushed vocals in their songs, not unlike one of the bands they're most often compared to, Khruangbin. "Takahashi Timing" (possibly a tribute to the late Yukihiro Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra) circles back to the phrase "never too late," and balances Chic-style guitar licks with spiraling melodies, heading into a more synth-heavy breakdown before washing down with dubby effects. "Pia Dance" starts out lean but works its way into an exuberant, bubbly groove, then works in the sweet, addictive "you make me wanna dance" refrain. "The Perseverance of Sano" refreshingly dives straight into surf rock, particularly the style of revivalists like Man or Astro-man? who incorporate synths and sci-fi elements.

The soft, twinkling lullaby "Komori Uta" is cloying and skippable, and "The Year of the Tiger" starts out as a nebulous haze and never quite settles into something compelling. The fresh and exciting "Tokyo Disko" gets right back on track, interpreting the hybrid sound its title suggests, but also taking it somewhere else, particularly during the song's dazzling drum solo section. The rest of the album significantly mellows out, though "White Storm" does feature some captivating polyrhythms. — (via AllMusic)

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Label: Glitterbeat
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Released: 2024
Genre: Rock, Funk / Soul, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Disco, Funk

File under: Psychedelic Rock
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