Yu Su – Yellow River Blue
Artwork Yellow River Blue
With „Xiu“, the opener of Yellow River Blue, you are greeted by a melody of a traditional chinese zither supported by a dreamy humming vocals of the artist Yo Su. The atmosphere is that of a warm welcome to her album. Yellow River Blue is based on a journey Yu Su embarked on 2019 back to her homeland China, where she was born but has since lived in Vancouver from 2013. Thus I see the said song also as an invitation to go on her trip which took Yu Su from China’s coast to the Tibetan Mountains. Going back to the track, after a gentle start the melody expands into a richer carpet of sounds. Soft drums and subsequently more and more synths tare together and with the final breakthrough of a beautiful baseline the vivid interplay continues to grow.
„Futuro” takes us a step further. You hear special drum pattern once again indicative ofits Traditional Chinese influence. In between rustling, animal-like sounds can be made out, which set the track into a vivid scene: Am I wandering through a unknown jungle ? The sedative rhythm feels like I must carefully explore my surroundings, however the thrill behind the unknown makes it exciting.
The same exciting atmosphere applies to the next scenery: „Touch-Me-Not” is a beautiful track in which Yu Su puts various flowy synths on to each other. Fore comes an atmosphere as if a river shapes into a glittery waterway on which a breeze of wind is blowing? A bunch of water currents flow alongside each other in which I try to track down each individually and observe this 'game of water'.
Then, „Gleam“ will guide you under water into the river through dub sounds rendering everything blurry and unclear yet sprawling water. The track is underlined by a gloomy sound coming from a distance with the twist of sharp and jumping synths. This mixture takes me to a meditative, yet attentive state in equal parts.
In contrast, „Melaleuca” pulls one away from nature. The setting might that be of a bustling city in which you experience some vivid nightlife on a stop of your journey through the country: Yu Su creates a cheerful dance track with a touch of 80s synth pop. In the middle of the track she seizes even more tension with some fast drum pattern boosting my mood even further.
In „Kleid” shows Su Yu experimental side: a voice of a women that seems to monologize the same phrase over and over can be made out. Next to her, drums try to keep up with her, however it sounds like an exhausting task to fulfill. Is it a musical transition of a situation Yu Su observed on the streets somewhere she went?
Our and the album's journey ends with two calm tracks „Dusty” and „Melaleuca” – at night. A slow tempo enables us to process all these newly found discoveries.
Throughout the album one common thread of how Yu Su approaches her music becomes clear: she merges a variety of different genres from ambient dub, synth pop to downtempo and gives each part its own note with the touch of her chinese roots. However, each track has its own main emphasis which enables Yu Su to generate a diverse set of tension. Above all, which might be the most important, Yu Su enables us to take part in her travels through the musical imagery she creates.
Listen to Yellow River Blue on Spotify:
