Lovely Yumi and the Weather we’re having aren’t we?
(I'm not even sorry).
It seems like there is nothing but sunny skies
forecast for Ruby Taylor, AKA Yumi and the Weather, a Brighton-based
multi-talented instrumentalist who has perfected a distinct blend of galvanic,
iridescent psych-pop and distorted, grunge-drenched, garage rock. She is back
with her second album ‘It’s All In My Head’, an album four years in the making
since her eponymous debut album in 2018.
Prepare to embark on an electronic-snared serpentine spiral of absonant guitar progressions and powerhouse riffs through Ruby’s brightest of highs and darkest of lows in this 10-track, authentic self-portrait. Covering everything from Ruby’s experience with sleep deprivation to getting sectioned, through the looking glass to sexual encounters and dark fantasies; Ruby has created an album of introspective, loud honesty which only enrichens the talent and creativity audible in this album.
Released on Friday 23rd September via
Miohmi Records, the album opens with the tantalised ‘Imagine’ leads us into a
discordant madhouse of an insanely synergistic fusion of Taylor’s beautifully
dulcet vocals and the monstrous guitar riffs. The song is comprised of an
instrumental composition strapped into a death-dropping rollercoaster,
amplified by the blown-out speaker feel which infuses the track with that
sugar-rush of rebellion.
And then when you think you know what to expect for
the outro, the song slams on the emergency brakes and you are thrust forward
into a dreamlike haze of romantic adagio. It was breath-taking to listen to how
smoothly of a transition it was, from ‘mum-told-me-to-turn-the-music-down’
alt-rock to a radio appearance in the 1940s with resemblance to Kitty Kallen’s
‘Little Things Mean A Lot’. There is nothing I appreciate more than a
professionally constructed blend of genres you wouldn’t have thought belonged
together, but Yumi and the Weather saw the high bar and took a
rainbow-sparking, flame-covered chainsaw to it. Chef’s kiss.
‘Hair is growing on my face / Hair is growing on my
nose’
That isn’t a self-confession from yours truly, but it
is the lyrics of the infectiously catchy, following track ‘Howl’. We are
immediately thrust through the windshield into this fantastical world where the
razor-sharp harmonies paint the scene of violent lunacy. The track encapsulates
the frustrations of being repeatedly sectioned and the feeling of otherness
which I feel a lot of people will just devour when they hear this descent down
the rabbit hole.
The unapologetic dynamics, the aggressive
string-ripping guitar riffs and heart-racing drums are struck by lightning
until the most polished cadence I have heard in some time. The track ends in
such a way that you feel as if you have just managed to stop your car from
flying off a cliff. I love, love, love it!
It’s even more impressive when you realise this track
and others in the album were almost entirely written, record, produced and
performed by Ruby Taylor – Taylor saw the fast lane and said to herself ‘I can
make a New Way’.
That brings us to Taylor’s ‘New Way’, and I was
astonished as to how distinctly unique it stands against all already immensely
innovation album.
With the intro, I heard a little sprinkle of The
Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ with that hooking bass riff and my curiosity
peaked immediately. This song, slowing the tempo from ‘Howl’, is jam-packed
with the flare of retro psych-pop, feeling like I am in the revamped
kaleidoscope of that dream-like 80s sound.
This song has that visual charm of the people that
stand against the walls at the back of the club, they are bathed in all of the
same lights, but they are invisible still.
I feel like this song is the song that acts as
deliverance for the purity and power of Taylor’s vocals. Her mellifluous harmony
with the quaint bass is illuminated by the dichotomy it constructs against the
andante drums, but it all blends perfectly to create a wonderland of
dreamscapes to inspire all the creatives who hear it.
What can I say, this album has been binged and re-binged and re-binged again!
Till next time.
My Original Article in Darkus Magazine:
https://www.darkusmagazine.com/post/yumi-and-the-weather-release-all-in-my-head-album
Yumi and The Weather’s Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/23HlNyyzzIg06ROx6tBsIS
Yumi and The Weather’s SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/yumiandtheweather
Yumi and the Weather’s Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/yumiandtheweather/?hl=en
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