Los Angeles-based band yOya will release their sophomore LP The Half Turn on July 20th via New Professor Music. The album is available to pre-order now on limited edition coke bottle green vinyl and CD HERE.
Today, the band shared the official video for “The Bloom,” which can be seen now below!
About the video yOya’s Alex Pfender says, “Most of our past videos rely on abstract art delivered via DIY machinations; ‘The Bloom’ features us more as actors, living and striving in the world that director Zach Johnston (Phox, J.E. Sunde, Boom Forest) helped us to create We kill time scrolling an endless, faceless social media feed; we pedal relentlessly uphill on a bike that doesn’t move; one way or another, we’re convinced that all this time spent is getting us somewhere. We never really do get anywhere new exactly. What seems to change is how we’re getting on in the little bubble of our world.”
yOya’s Noah Dietterich adds, “We sit with our instruments on the concrete banks of the LA River, but we don’t play them, we just scroll through an infinite blank feed, as the water flows through an infinite concrete channel. We exhaust ourselves pedaling bikes that go nowhere. It’s a derelict world that’s waiting on ‘The Bloom,’ studying itself in the mirror, though we still find joy at home together making music.”
yOya is the project of longtime songwriting partners Alex Pfender and Noah Dietterich. Natives of Corvallis, OR and friends since the fifth grade, Pfender and Dietterich grew up to the sound of rain in the fir trees and Graceland on cassette. When the duo moved to California they found themselves semi-consciously absorbing the electronic sounds of the Los Angeles scene. What emerged was yOya’s unique mix of folk-hearted songs, intricate vocal harmony, gritty synths, and thundering electronic beats.
The band’s debut album Nothing To Die brought them to stages with Avi Buffalo and Dawes, with its incisive beats and tightly-packaged pop. Their follow up EP Go North and singles “Fool’s Gold” and “The Heartwood” won them supporting slots for Moses Sumney, Bleachers, and Big Thief, as well as praise from the blogosphere: “walk[ing] the tightrope between the worlds of acoustic folk and electro-pop,” wrote BuzzbandsLA’s Kevin Bronson, “is an act they continue to pull off with uncommon grace.”
The Half Turn will be yOya’s first release since the addition of drummer Ian Meltzer’s precision and exuberance. With half an eye to their sonic past, the album brings broader arrangements and deeper textures to bear. Acoustic and electric drums, guitars, and keyboards all circle around a center: Pfender’s and Dietterich’s vocals, exploring the world as they pass in a half-turn.
yOya Tour Dates
05.22 – Washington, DC @ Sofar Sounds
05.23 – New York, NY @ Sofar Sounds
05.24 – New York, NY @ Pete’s Candy Store (with Kenniston)
05.25 – Baltimore, MD @ Sofar Sounds
06.06 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo (with Matt Maeson)
06.28 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Rogue