For most bands, taking a decade to follow up a debut album is career suicide. But for Yndi Halda, it seems to have worked. Since the March release of Under Summer – their first album since 2006 – the returning British group have been greeted with a hero’s welcome.
Having established themselves as one of England’s leading post-rock groups with their violin-driven debut Enjoy Eternal Bliss, Yndi Halda’s new album was applauded by critics for eschewing the genre’s cliches (although, true to post-rock tradition, its four songs clock in at almost an hour).
It means a great deal to us that after such a long time away, folks are still interested to share our music with us,” says guitarist and singer James Vella, before explaining the significance behind the album title.“
It’s a reference to both summertime – its joy and its beauty – and also what’s ‘under’ the summer [and] what happens beneath: sadness and longing,” he explains. “If we were to pick emotional descriptions of our music, we would use both ‘joy’ and ‘sadness’ equally.”
While Vella admits that “in some respects, the first record sounds very similar all the way through,” Under Summer captures a band more comfortable using their voices. Literally. It features their first songs with lyrics.
“It came naturally,” Vella offers. “We’re having a great time performing it live. We have four singers so we can really dig into the harmonies and the choral lines.”
Despite only having two releases to their name, Yndi Halda’s musical history stretches back to high school. Vella still has the group’s first cassette, recorded as 15-year-olds in his bedroom (“we graduated from playing covers of Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins to Radiohead and Jeff Buckley”).
By the time they were finishing high school, Yndi Halda were regularly performing live. Vella laughs about an early gig in France attended by precisely nobody. “The venue eventually invited in a homeless couple and their dog, and they danced to our live show,” he chuckles.
Now the group plays somewhat more prestigious stages like London’s Barbican (“incredible, but I remember feeling very nervous”). They make their long-awaited return to China with their most extensive tour of the Mainland to date from June 17-22.
“We had a fantastic time, met some lovely people and ate some beautiful food,” Vella recalls of their 2007 shows, before expressing his excitement at returning to Shenzhen which he visited as a teenager.
Vella admits that since their last China tour, Yndi Halda have become limited by the newfound responsibilities of its members. With the band spread out across England and all holding down full-time jobs, Vella sighs: “We knew we always wanted to give the band time, since it was so important to us, but where we would find the time was a more difficult question.”
Their respective schedules mean that they can only meet on occasional weekends, but Vella notes: “Even when the band was not fully active, we spent a great deal of time crafting the music, arranging the vocal lines and harmonies, and fixing the production.”
“Some of it very naturally flowed together, but I remember worrying on a few occasions that the record would not happen.”
Energized by Under Summer’s success, Vella is hopeful that Yndi Halda fans won’t have to wait another decade for the group’s next release.
“We still have the remainder of the tour for Under Summer to fulfill, but we’ve started playing with some new ideas together,” he says. “The plan is certainly to dedicate real time to songwriting.”
Yndi Halda China Tour:
Beijing: June 17, 9-10.30pm, RMB120-150. ModernSky Lab.
Shanghai: June 18, 9-10.30pm, RMB120-150. MAO Livehouse
Guangzhou: June 21, 8.30-10.30pm, RMB80-100. Fei Livehouse
Shenzhen: June 22, 8.30-10.30pm, RMB80-100. B10.
Image by Daniel Gregory
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