Photo and video credit for BoomBoomChik: Quang Nguyen
Anticipation was the mood of the evening as a line of fans, bloggers, press and some of my friends queued up in front of Mercury Lounge this past Tuesday. The house was packed solid in time for the debut New York City performance of Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna.
The NYC blogosphere had already been buzzing about her. Having heard of Yuna during my days in Malaysia, I was well acquainted with her mesmerizing music and managed – without much effort – to get many of my non-Malaysian New York friends to become totally obsessed with her music (she is a publicist’s dream).
Backed with only a bassist and keyboardist, Yuna’s vocals and storytelling were front and center in her five-song set. She ended it with a crowd favorite, “Decorate”, and made good on her promise – or hopes – to “take over the world”. She certainly took over the hearts of some of my friends, who were surprised and in awe of her music. I followed up their, “Oh my God, she’s really good!” with an “I told you so or two”.
Yuna’s debut American EP, Decorate (FADER Label), will be available on March 15th.
Here’s a snippet of Yuna performing “Someone Out of Town” at Mercury Lounge: