Yin (音, “music”) is a weekly RADII column that looks at Chinese songs spanning hip hop to folk to modern experimental, and everything in between. Drop us a line if you have a suggestion.
This is one we’ve been hyping and highly anticipating for over a year, so we’ll keep this post short and sweet: today Shanghai singer YEHAIYAHAN is out with her debut album, Under the Moonlight — and it’s brilliant. We previewed a music video for the title track last month; here’s another favorite cut, the trippier and more experimental-feeling “Sleepless” featuring Naxi musician and composer Yao Chunyang:
YEHAIYAHAN — who has built a large fan base in China over a decade performing under the now-discarded stage name ChaCha — wrote a short text to commemorate the album’s release:
“This is not a showcase of overnight success, but rather a document of transformation and growth. It has undergone a long process of demolition and reconstruction, a process full of doubt and uncertainty, often uneasy, unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but at the same time surging with ecstasy and hope. On many nights, thoughts born under the moonlight repeatedly pushed past one another, consoled one another, slowly carried her to-ward the place she dreamed of going — both a return to roots, and the beginning of new exploration.”
The digital album has been released globally today by LA label Alpha Pup Records — an arrangement that came together after YEHAIYAHAN performed at our china.wav showcase in LA this past May. The album’s physical release is a collaboration between YEHAIYAHAN and Nini Sum of Shanghai screen-printing studio IdleBeats: a wooden-framed silkscreen print of original art derived from the album cover, also by Sum. Looks like something your house needs.
The physical release is limited to 300, so rush to Taobao to get yours (a small number will also be available for purchase outside of China, via IdleBeats). Otherwise, stream/buy the full album on Bandcamp, and continue clicking below to learn more about this stunning album, as well as YEHAIYAHAN’s manifold other projects:
