YUS is the project of Belgium-born, Los Angeles-based Youceff Yunque Kabal. His latest offering is his fourth, the seven-song Hyperspiritual, a unique blend of synthesizer, driving beats, and auto-tuned vocals that are rooted in a unique source of inspiration. With such a conceptual origin, sometimes it’s better to let the artist themselves explain where they’re coming from – here’s a bit about Hyperspiritual from YUS:
“The idea stemmed from a Facebook post from Darragh Nolan, who releases music as Sacred Animals, in which he evoked his belief that music comes from spirit, and returns us to spirit, our original, true form… The cover art is a thought form that represents “sympathy and love for all.” The design and album serves as a counterpart to YUS’s second album, Talisman.”
Hyperspiritual kicks off with the archetypal “Kettle Beat,” a borderline industrial grind that simmers with menacing intensity. Pounding synth layers build atop one another as the stomp-clap of factory-esque percussion lurches the song forward. Kabal’s vocal presence is heavily auto-tuned, giving an even more robotic and otherworldly feel to this song. Sparkling synth arpeggios are the cherry-on-top of “Kettle Beat,” ringing out like some dusty, forgotten arcade machine in a dead shopping mall.
Track two “Home” follows, as Hyperspiritual blossoms with a palpable urgency – this is definitely an album highlight and gets our nod for LP favorite. The danceable percussion presence here is bolstered by a siren, which should sound out of place, but actually suits the song quite perfectly. Vocal-adjacent samples give “Home” a hypnotic, meditative feel, as YUS drops a simple, but surprisingly deep lyric:
Take me home, this isn’t right. It doesn’t feel quite like what I thought it might.”
There’s lots to enjoy here on Hyperspiritual, and YUS isn’t shy about flexing his varied influences. “Give Me That” is inspired by Latin beats, juxtaposing traditional instrumentation (think cowbells and horns) and melodies with his ultra-electronic songwriting. “Better Frens” harkens back to the darker vibes of “Kettle Beat” with it’s haunting keyboard patch and repetitious sampling of the song’s title. The gentle keyboard pulses in “You Think It’s Alright” yawn softly like puffs of air gently massaging your eardrums. Finally, there’s album closer “Smoke Rings,” another album favorite contender, that hides a twinkling acoustic guitar underneath layers of ambiance and atmosphere. “Smoke Rings” has an unnerving feel in the best kind of way – wrapping up Hyperspiritual abruptly as it suddenly disappears from your headphones.
Hyperspiritual is out now via Manneken Records. Check it out below via Bandcamp, or, add it to your favorite Spotify or Apple Music playlists. You can also learn more about YUS via his website.