From Yijia’s upcoming album, the new single ‘Yi The Sun’ combines futuristic ambient-psychedelic trance with the ancient sounds of the Yi ethnic minority group from southwestern China. Yijia was inexplicably drawn to the otherworldly resonance of a rare field recording of the Yi community’s music from her friend, only to discover later through a DNA test that she herself was more than a quarter Yi. Her experimental approach in ‘Yi The Sun’
became an act of identity reclamation.
Mirroring the symbolic homecoming, the lyrics of ‘Yi The Sun’ evoke a post-apocalyptic return to Earth; arriving home after generations of distance, searching for connection in a world long changed. With lines like “Hey, hello, is anyone home? I’ve been gone for too long,” the track echoes cosmic loneliness and ancestral longing, while pulsing with a beat that grounds it firmly in the now.
Yijia depicts the genre-defying spirit of the focus track: “The traditional Indigenous music of the YI ethnic minority group from the Southwestern part of China inspires this song. I was really drawn by this particular field recording a musician friend sent me, and later on, I took a DNA test, and it turns out I’m more than a quarter related to the Yi ethnic minority, despite not knowing that growing up and being disconnected from the culture and language. The lyrics of the song are a post-apocalyptic setting of returning to your home on Earth after being away
for a long time, and having this fusion of futuristic ambient psychedelic trance beat on top of an old traditional song. Sometimes I refer to this song as taking my ancestors clubbing.”
In her recent TED Talk, Yijia recounts her early rise to fame in China as a teenage pop artist and how, despite this success, she struggled with a disconnect from her cultural roots. Over the years, she’s delved into the deep well of traditional folk music, from Mongolian throat singing to family lullabies to Chinese folk. The album is an audible tapestry of musical heritage, one that’s deeply personal, universal and boldly experimental. This isn’t about worshipping the ashes of the past, but a sincere preservation of that creative fire.
Set for release on 22nd August, Yijia’s forthcoming album TU is not to be missed. It merges Chinese musical traditions with modern aspects of composition, technology and storytelling to produce a listening experience that is both timeless and present. This collection features Yijia’s versions of traditional folk songs from her fusion band project The Sages, founded along with Irish musician Pedar Connolly-Davey as students of SOAS, University of London, like ‘Sunrise On The Horizon’ from Mongolia, ‘Red Mountain Flowers’ and from China, and ‘Konguroi’ from the Turkic ethnic group Tuvan. Alongside these fresh reimaginings are Yijia’s original compositions, ‘Willow Flowers’ (winner of the Oxford University Mapleton-Bree Prize) and ‘The Yi Sun‘.
