Since debuting on New York’s GODMODE imprint back in 2016, Korean-American talent Yaeji has seen a level of success that very few producers or DJs manage to find themselves presented with, and she’s just taken the next step in becoming a fully developed artist. Following breakthrough tracks like rain and passionfruit, which over the past few years have gradually amassed tens of millions of plays on streaming platforms, Yaeji finds herself in front of an audience that’s chewing their nails to
the bone for more of her broken drum rhythms and cute vocal ambiences, so why not release an album? What We Drew 우리가 그려왔던 comes at a time when virtually every club on the planet is closed, and home-listening is the only sensible way to enjoy new music, this gives Yaeji the unique advantage of releasing her debut album when internet usage is at a record high and clubbers are at home, online, rinsing tracks every minute they’re awake. The soft and caressing sonics that Yaeji’s voice adds to her lofi-house and hiphop hybrid production style is a near-perfect match, and the record as a whole absolutely elevates her own production values, offering an eclectic blend of everything from glistening pop and chunky house to ambient hiphop and crunching breaks, it’s an album with extremely little filler and one that provides concrete evidence that the young producer who shared bedroom-session beats on SoundCloud has matured into an internationally recognised artist who now has an album on XL Recordings.
Where to start:
’SPELL’ – Glistening beat music with gentle Korean toplines
‘WAKING UP DOWN’ – Yaeji sings over hypnotic club grooves
‘WHEN I GROW UP’ – Playful, percussion heavy drum rhythms
Previous from Yaeji:
EP2 EP (2017, GODMODE)
Yaeji EP (2017, GODMODE)
If you like this then check out:
Peggy Gou – Once EP (2018, Ninja Tune)
DJ Seinfeld – Time Spent Away From U LP (2017, Lobster Theremin)
Yaeji – What We Drew 우리가 그려왔던 is out now on XL Recordings.