Yian

ザ・シネマティック・オーケストラからFKAツイッグスまで魅了する美しき孤高の才能ルシンダ・チュアが1stアルバムをリリース。

滋味豊かで深い癒しを与えてくれる歌声とチェロを駆使した深淵なアンビエント～ドローン・サウンドでFKAツイッグスからザ・シネマティック・オーケストラまで魅了する孤高の才能ルシンダ・チュアが名門〈4AD〉より待望の1stアルバムをリリース!
ほぼ全曲のプロデュースとエンジニアを自ら手がけたという本作は先行リリースされた「Golden」や「Echo」など、アジアをルーツにロンドンで活動する自身のアイデンティティと向き合った葛藤やトラウマをゆっくりと波紋を広げる深い泉のような絶景へと落とし込んだ全10曲を収録。
タイトルの『YIAN』は中国語でツバメ(燕)を意味し、この渡り鳥には言語を超えた内省的な旅路が託されており、静謐で時に妖艶な心地のいい唯一無二の世界観が見事に構築されている。

Lucinda Chua sounded so accomplished on the EP collection Antidotes that it felt like an album, but Yian shows how much more she can do with a set of songs designed to complement each other. A song cycle reconciling Chuas sense of identity and the rootlessness she felt as a woman of Chinese-Malaysian ancestry growing up in England, the album is named after Siew Yian, the moniker Chuas parents gave her to connect her with her Chinese heritage, as well as the Chinese word for "swallow," the migratory songbird that travels between places without belonging to any of them. Yian addresses Chuas feelings of incompleteness fully and eloquently, with a singular vision and a sustained but nuanced mood. Since her days with the experimental chamber pop duo Felix, Chua has been well-versed in the power of softness, and Yian is even subtler and more delicate than Antidotes. Chuas decision to forego beats lets these songs float gently, but also sink in deeply. On "Do You Know You Know," ambient washes and distant, rippling keyboards cast a spell that rivals Grouper when it comes to sacred intimacy. As she unites the different strands of her heritage on her own terms, Chua also blends the ambient, R&B, and classical elements of her music in her own distinct way. She fuses all three on the artfully deconstructed interlude "Grief Piece," and harnesses the sweep of an orchestra on "Meditations on a Place," a collaboration with Stars of the Lids Adam Wiltzie that resounds with a generous warmth. Similarly, artful repetition creates equal amounts of calm and movement on "An Ocean," where Chuas use of luxuriously draped strings and melting Rhodes piano is at once minimalist and cinematic. Yians sublime beauty only heightens the vulnerability and resolve of songs such as "Golden"s tremulous but determined statement of intent or the cautiously optimistic "Something Other Than Years," which closes the album with Chua and yeules magical vocal interplay. Throughout Yian, Chua deftly balances hope soul-searching, imbuing the album with honesty thats as solid as the music is airy. The realization that its impossible to connect with anyone without having a full sense of self is one she returns to on songs as varied as "Autumn Leaves Dont Come," the world-weary tipping point where Chua admits shes "been living in the sky too long," or "Echo," where she emanates luminous confidence as she declares independence from familial, cultural, and societal expectations. While reclaiming and redefining her own roots, Chua also connects with her labels origins; her dreamy, artful, powerfully emotional music feels more akin to projects like This Mortal Coil than some of her other 4AD labelmates. A remarkable debut album, Yians reflections on growth cement Chuas identity as an artist capable of deeply personal, honest, and beautiful music. ~ Heather Phares