“I know I told these tales for many years now. I feel it’s time to set my story free. Questions about what my future holds now. The thoughts of where I’ll end up, where I’ll be”.
Although she would consider her Little Dragon friends (Erik Bodin, Fredrik Wallin, Håkan Wirenstrand) – who she has known since high school and has performed musically with since 1996 – as a kind of close-knit family, Yukimi Nagano (now under the mononym Yukimi) has decided to venture on her own LP-wise for the first time. For You is a personal, emotionally vulnerable record where Yukimi addresses her direct family; her sons Elinam and Jaxon, their recently deceased father and her own father Yusuke – as well as confessing about the periods in her life where she has felt mentally insecure. As ever, Yukimi’s vocals are graceful and effortlessly cool but when taking away Little Dragon’s fantastical and kooky lyrics and accompanying electronic flourish, we are left with a more musically minimal yet still skilfully produced album where listeners can connect with Yukimi’s life more than ever. She’s still cool but we hear more of a human side to her that – hence the title For You – shows us her fears, dreams and wish for peace. She is a talented musician but she is also just one of us.
“When you write from a place that feels deeply personal. It all becomes very human” declares Yukimi on For You’s intro ‘Prelude For You’. Providing commentary at the beginning of an album is almost always a nice touch and the way she explains how she aims to connect with her audience recalls ‘Outro (The Let Down)’ from the latest U.S Girls album Bless This Mess. Although a YouTube comment compared the vibe of the song to Akasha’s trip-hop track ‘Brown Sugar‘. It also provides a taster of the string squeak heard at several points on record that musically give the album an imperfect human feeling. ‘Sad Makeup’ – which also uses the acoustic guitar pick scrape sound – is great case in point in how Yukimi has written easy to understand lyrics without compromising on creativity. It doesn’t have a video yet but one could imagine her dressed as a pretentious clown when she sings the lines: “Oh, I’ve been trying hard to hide it for so long. I’ve been wearing smiles, trying my best to be polite.” Eventually the Swede realises that the effort to conceal her true mood is in vain, as those around can feel her melancholic energy nonetheless. It’s one of the songs on For You in which her wordless vocals of ooohs are just as soothing as her word-filled ones. The flunctuating melisma is technically impressive.
Other songs where Yukimi express self-doubt include ‘Runaway’ (“I been waiting for a runaway runaway moment. If only I could try to face every fear that appears”), devoid of a beat, the track gives listeners a paranoid vertigo feeling through its combination of oriental strings – perhaps to reflect her Japanese heritage – with futuristic swirling effects. ‘Stream of Consciousness‘ – one of the two tracks to have a collaboration with English neo soul musician Lianne La Havas – hears the two female musicians reflect on self-doubt from a womanhood perspective. “The only girl that understands is me. I’m talking to myself, so you will listen / I’m not perfect but I’m sure I’m getting stronger now. Hope that all. This is worth it. Maybe then I’ll make my mother proud”. Once again with minimal production, it lets the echoing voices fill up the majority of the soundscape.
‘Elinam’ and ‘Jaxton’ are named after Yukimi’s sons. Set to swaying folk, the former hears the mother reflect the past and look to the future of her relationship with Eli. No matter the situation everlasting love is present. “You arrived early December morning, we locked eyes / One day, I’ll let you go. One day, I’ll let you soar. You know where to find me”. It’s a track that will toggle the heartstrings of parents. While ‘Jaxton’, which effectively features Hiphop group De La Soul, is sadder because it also highlights the recent passing of their father. It’s the most poetic track on an album with more simplified lyrics but it works well. “He was our brothеr. You were his blessing. Nicknamed you Buddha from a voice on bended knees. There’ll be no other but in you is resting a royal blood rooted in kindred seeds.”
It’s one thing talking about your family and another thing actually hearing their voices. One of her sons introduces the track ‘Peace Reign’ with charming lisp: “You have believe it for it to happen, it’s right in front of you. Ok?” Furthermore, Yukimi’s father, the illustrator Yusuke Nagano who is also namedropped on the blues track ‘Rules Of School’ – closes the album on the gospel track ‘Feels Good To Cry‘ by addressing toxic masculinity. It is perfect end to an album where Yukimi is displaying both her family and her human fragilities. After sombre keys that are reminiscent of Madonna’s ‘Live To Tell’, her father discloses: “Man doesn’t cry so much… but now I cry for anything. I’m getting old and getting so sentimental for the people’s life / I’m happier to show emotional feelings in a physical way. Sometimes crying part is a symbol of weakness. It’s stupid, you should be crying.”
