My venerable colleague and metronome enthusiast James Parker expounded in great detail upon the significance of repetition on YYU’s 2012 album TIMETIMETIME&TIME (TMT Review), our #9 favorite album of that year, but with the announcement of a new 12-inch single, Kiss As We Walk, as well as the “announcement” of a proper full-length scheduled for release later this year (around September), we have the chance to see if the 21-year-old Kansan with a penchant for vowels and semi-vowels alike really has what it takes… to repeat things. To repeat things. To repeat things. To repeat things. Just look at my amateur skills vis-à-vis repeating things! If YYU deigned to impress, his next long-player would not only contain the same tracks as his last, but it would be his last! Add to cart, get to the confirmation page, and suddenly [insert name of new album] would become &TIME. A massive conspiracy necessitating the collusion of many online retailers. Awesome.
And awesomely unlikely, I’m afraid, especially considering I’ve listened to the new 12-inch single and can thus confirm that it so consists of all new material. Furthermore, flip to the B-side (in a few weeks, on March 24) and notice the relative linearity of “When We Are Old,” which was recorded in an “old bathroom” and contains little more than the man’s beautifully solemn vocals, a guitar, and birds — surely unharmed. It signifies a mild fade from the abstractness that we were previously so bowled over by, but it may or may not double as foreshadowing. Equally disruptive of pattern is YYU’s switch from the vaporwaving Beer On The Rug to the UK-based RAMP Recordings.
There’s nothing new that I can actually share. Here’s an oldie:
Kiss As We Walk tracklisting:
01. Kiss As We Walk
02. When We Are Old
• YYU: https://www.facebook.com/yyumusic
• RAMP: https://www.facebook.com/RAMP.PTN.4TH