Credits and thanks

Credits & Dank
1.
Is It You 05:05
2.
Love Is Here To Stay 06:13
3.
Lonely Island 03:58
4.
Rebirth 06:57
5.
Drama Queen 03:11
6.
After The End 04:26
7.
Seagull 04:50
8.
Drama Queen 03:11

The new album "Ysla" by Yumi Ito has become a true tidal current of personal stories, impressive improvisations, and the unique voice of the Swiss-Polish-Japanese singer, composer, and improviser. Musically, the work moves between art-pop, jazz, and neoclassical; thematically, it deals with loneliness & separation, the world ending, and rebirth. In deep self-reflections, Itohas developed her vocal improvisation into a kind of "universal" language that can be understood anywhere. Beside that, for the first time she recorded all piano parts herself, complemented by Kuba Dworak on double bass and Iago Fernández on drums. In addition, there are illustrious guests like Chris Hyson (synths; Jordan Rakei, The Magic Lantern, Snowpoet) and Szymon Mika (g), with whom Yumi Ito also plays in a duo. Mixing & mastering of the seven original compositions was done by sound engineer Daniel Dettwiler at Studio Idee und Klang, using the same mixing console that Queen and Supertramp already used. For all these reasons, "Ysla" (release: 14/04/2023 via enja records) isn’t simply Yumi Ito’s fifth album under her own name, but marks a new peak in her opus.

A journey through the endless expanses of the sea to a magnificent island: this image appears in the mind’s eye when "Ysla" is spinning on the record player. The new album by Yumi Ito has become a true tidal current of personal stories, impressive improvisations, and the unique voice of the Swiss-Polish-Japanese singer, composer, and improviser.

"In recent years, I’ve worked on new music in Iceland, Galicia (Cies) and Greece (Milos), which - like my father's country of origin, Japan - are all islands. Traveling there has generated distance and time to get to know myself better. " Yumi Ito

"Ysla", from the Old Portuguese for "island", deals with the themes of loneliness & separation, the world ending, and rebirth, linked with metaphors from nature, psychology, and sociology, as well as current contemporary history. The seven original compositions are closely connected to Yumi Ito's personhood and tell of her path of reflection and self-discovery. In this process, Ito has also developed her vocal improvisation into a "universal" language that can be understood anywhere: She uses it in a highly conscious, virtuoso, and incredibly powerful way, improvising with apparent effortlessness across genres, keys, and rhythms of all kinds - like a Zen master in harmony with her surroundings.

"The times on the islands and during the pandemic have made me reflect intensely. One realization has been that when I improvise and scat, I can connect with people across nationalities and borders in my own wordless language - much like traveling - and thus be at home anywhere."Yumi Ito

Moreover, Ito recorded all the piano parts herself for the first time, and impressively so: when the often complex piano patterns ring out and the musician sings over them in a completely detached way, a world is conjured up in no time at all. She is complemented by Kuba Dworak on double bass and Iago Fernández on drums, both of whom already formed the rhythm section of the Yumi Ito Orchestra. Effortlessly, this trio maneuvers through a veritable genre ocean of ambient sounds, mystical grooves, and soulful parts between art-pop, jazz, and neoclassical. Among those on board: illustrious guests like Chris Hyson (synths; Jordan Rakei, The Magic Lantern, Snowpoet) and Szymon Mika (g), with whom Yumi Ito also plays in a duo. Mix & mastering was done by sound engineer Daniel Dettwiler at Studio Idee und Klang, using the same mixing console that Queen and Supertramp already used. For all these reasons, "Ysla" (release: 14/04/2023 via enja records) isn’t simply Yumi Ito’s fifth album under her own name, but marks a new peak in her opus. Profound and immensely fresh - like an island: proud, stoic, and strong amidst the powerful waves of the ocean.

___________________
linktr.ee/yumi_ito
www.yumiito.com
credits
released April 14, 2023

Yumi Ito:
Vocals, piano (1,2,3,4,7), Rhodes I (3)
compositions, lyrics, production
art direction

Kuba Dworak:
Double Bass

Iago Fernandez:
Drums

Chris Hyson:
Synths, post-Production

Xan Campos:
Rhodes 2 / keys (3)

Szymon Mika:
Acoustic guitars (5)

Rui Stähelin:
Theorbo (2)

Kyrill Fasla Prolat:
Cello (4)

Kirk Starkey:
Cello (1)

Jo Flüeler:
Pre-production synths (1), recording engineer Rhodes (3)

Ambrosius Huber:
Cello (1, 2, 6, 7)

Daniel Dettwiler:
1st Recording engineer (5,6), Recording engineer for all vocals (except 2)

Sam Barnett:
Recording engineer for the piano, doublebass and drums of all tracks (except 5,6)
recording engineer for the cello (4), vocals and theorbo (2);
theorbo post-production (2)
editing all songs (except 5, 6)

Patrik Zosso:
Recording engineer for the cello (1, 2, 6, 7)

Johannes Jäck:
Editing all tracks, 2nd engineer (5, 6), 2nd engineer for all vocals (except 2)

Jaka Arh:
Additional programming/processing (3), assistant to the mixing engineer

Mixing, mastering and programming:
Daniel Dettwiler at Idee und Klang Studio, Himmelried, Switzerland.

Vinyl Mastering & DDP
Magdalena Piotrowska
Hear Candy Mastering, Poland

Recorded at Jazzcampus Basel,
February-July 2022
Rhodes 2 recorded at Xan's Home, Cangas, July 2022
Synth pre-productions at Sád Studios Basel (1,3)
Synths, Post-Production by Chris Hyson, London, July 2022

Marta Sołtys
Management, executive Production

Stoph Ruckli
Coaching & consulting

Maria Jarzyna
Visual art direction, photography, layout design

Supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia

© ℗ 2023 Werner Aldinger | enja records
Angler Str. 25 | 80339 Munich, Germany
enja 9799 | LC18368 | Made in UE

"Is It You" is the first single from Yumi Ito's new album "Ysla" (14.04.2023) and deals with a broken relationship. It brings up the associated feelings of guilt in view of possible injuries, as well as self-confrontation and self-forgiveness. These two contrasts also meet on a musical level: after an opening full of longing, featuring a striking cello figure, halfway through the song it shifts into a driving groove, driven by Ito's piano playing, who for the first time has recorded all the piano parts on an album herself. All these elements make it clear that nothing is eternal, as much as it may seem so - which is precisely why it is a powerful realization of the continuously new.

"Ysla" -14.04.2023 Enja Records Yellow Bird
lyrics
I fought with my own feelings
I gave you all I could
Don't blame it on my heart
I still feel you here with me

I never wanted to hurt you
I never wanted to hurt
I never wanted to hurt you
But I know that I did

I close my eyes and still see
Still can see your smile
Still can see your face
When I close my eyes
I can still feel your touch

Although you are gone
Although you are gone
Although you are somewhere else

- Vocal Improvisation -

I close my eyes and I can still see
Still can see your smile
Still can see your face
When I close my eyes
I can still feel your touch

Although you are gone
Although you are gone
Although you are somewhere else

Uuh...

Credits
Released November 25, 2022

Yumi Ito - Vocals, Piano, Composition, Lyrics, Artistic Direction, Production
Kuba Dworak - Double bass
Iago Fernandez - Drums
Chris Hyson - Postproduction, Synthesizer
Kirk Starkey - Cello
Ambrosius Huber - Cello

Sam Barnett - Recording, Editing
Johannes Jäck - Recording, Editing
Daniel Dettwiler - Mixing, Mastering
Magdalena Piotrkowska - Additional Mastering

Recorded at the Jazzcampus Studio, Basel February - June 2022
Mixed and Mastered at Idee und Klang Studio, Switzerland July 2022
Mastered at Hear Candy Mastering, Poland August 2022

Executive Production Manager - Marta Soltys, MsMuse Management

Graphic design, artwork - Maria Jarzyna
Photography - Maria Jarzyna

Supported by Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, Erna & Curt Burgauer Stiftung, Stiftung Anne-Marie Schindler
license