Yumi Zouma have announced their debut album, Yoncalla, via Gorilla vs. Bear along with the first single, Keep It Close To Me. The record is due out May 27th on Arch Hillin NZ/AU (Cascine in the USand Rallye in Japan). The band will embark on a tour in support of Yoncalla that stretches across New Zealand, North America, Europe and Japan starting next month.
Where Yumi Zoumas previous EPs were created in isolation, capturing the nuances of each members life half a world away, the new material was given a singular voice. Yumi Zouma has always been an exercise in refining ideas and collaborating, reflects guitarist Charlie Ryder, but this was the first time we werent limited or protected by distance. With Yoncalla, the process was different, and it can be scary to present raw ideas to your friends but it's also incredible to see songs evolve through the sparks of inspiration that bounce between people in the same room. That intimacy is apparent on Yoncalla, an album about being close to people, rather than miles apart. Yumi Zoumas effortless waves of harmony have been redefined and the creative process laid bare to expose an act more unguarded and interconnected than ever before.
Additionally, Yoncalla sees Yumi Zouma continue their tradition of creating collectable vinyl releases, with the new album including a limited grey 7 that includes two studio outtakes from albums recording sessions. The 7 will be bundled with the first 500 copies of the Yoncalla 12. These outtakes are exclusive to the limited edition vinyl and will not appear digitally.
Since the release of their debut EP in 2014, Yumi Zoumas evolution has been brisk and organic ' a shoreline reflecting the changing tides of its ocean. The band sold' out their first EP twice' over before its release and before having ever played live, but each members disparate living arrangements' meant that live shows or even further releases were unexpected. Having grown up together in Christchurch, New Zealand, they scattered after school, moving to Auckland, Paris and New York, collaborating over email to create Yumi Zouma's initial material. However, the intense reception to these early tracks resulted in the groups first practices taking place on arena stages, as they were asked on tour by both Chet Faker and Lorde.
2015 saw the launch of their EP II alongside multiple tours of Europe, North America, Australia and Asia, before a deluxe EP Collection, 12 was released at the end of the year. These dizzying days on the road finally enabled the band to write together in the same place at the same time, and during a three'Äêweek pause in Paris, they set to work on their debut album. The body of the record took shape throughout this session, but final touches continued into the fall. Following a week of mixing in Philippe Zdar's Motorbass studiolast October, the self' recorded' and' produced, Yoncalla' was born.
To capture the concepts on Yoncalla, New Zealand visual artist Henrietta Harris was tapped to create the cover art, illustrating the band together on a front cover for the first time. Each members portrait is hand' drawn, but without the individual characteristics that previously separated them.