YUNA

Nocurnal

2013-11-28

Yuna is from Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, and started out at age 14 as a folk singer in local venues until her song-writing and vocal prowess was discovered nationally. Her Malaysian debut CD won the equivalent of a Grammy in that country. Eventually, her music was heard in the U.S, and an American-produced single got her gigs here, on stage and T.V. Noctural is her first Western-backed release and she comes across as an Asian sister of Feist and Adele--check out "Mountains" and see if Adele was not an influence there. Every song is catchy, with smooth vocals and hooks galore. It would be interesting to hear her non-Western early CDs to see how "popified" they've made her songs, but there's not doubt Yuna has many gifts on her own--she's not a studio creation. Check out the first three songs, and also "Someone Who Can," "Come Back" and "I Wanna Go." W-Pop 11/13 Michael J.

Quick Links:

• Yuna's homepage
• Yuna sings "I Wanna Go" live