€25.00
Out of stock
Release Date: 26th March 2021
Genre: Funk / Soul / Turkish Psych. Ltd Deluxe Version comes with 50 page children’s book inspired by the
album. Written by Francine Prose and illustrated by Omar “El Oms” Juarez, both this and the Blue vinyl are for Indie stores only.
Produced by Leon Michels. Features Piya Malik (Formerly of 79.5) & Shannon Wise of The Shacks. Fresh off of their 2020 offering
Adult Themes, El Michels Affair is back. Titled Yeti Season, this newest album has everything we’ve come to expect from EMA’s
patented cinematic style of instrumental soul music. Where Adult Themes inspired a soundtrack to an imaginary film, Yeti Season
brings us to a different place in time with new inspirations. Taken with Turkish-styled funk and an almost Mumbai-esque take on soul, El
Michels Affair offers us a different kind of drama and imagination with Yeti Season. If you’ve been following along, this shouldn’t be
viewed as too far a departure for El Michels Affair. The first single off of Yeti Season showed their hand back in 2018. A double-sided
banger, that release brought the musical textures to the fore that dominate this record. The first song, titled “Unathi,” is fully realized with
the beautifully haunting-yet-hopeful vocals of Piya Malik, formally of 79.5 another Big Crown artist. Singing in Hindi, Piya’s ethereal
voice is telling us to work and strive together toward progress. Even if you don’t understand her language, you can still hear the urgency
of purpose, creating a lasting vibe that sits on top of it all. Leon Michels explains that Piya had a vital influence on this record: “When
Piya started singing in Hindi, she had a different voice, a different tone. I knew we had to do something together.” And so Piya appears
on three other songs on Yeti Season: “Zaharila,” “Murkit Gem,” and “Dhuaan.” Each providing particular signatures to the album.
“Zaharila” is a building and changing love song punctuated by blaring trumpets, driving drums, and Piya’s pleading lyrics. While the
more upbeat “Murkit Gem” opens with a fuzzed out, Wu-Tang-esque baseline that buoys Piya’s stylings. The psychedelic guitar and
Piya’s changing tones and textures singing about an all-consuming love are what pushed “Dhuaan” on to the second single from Yeti
Season.There is also a vocal appearance from Shannon Wise of The Shacks, yet another Big Crown artist. Her song called “Sha Na
Na,” lies more in the familiar EMA vein: melodic, hypnotic, soulfully visual. But between Shannon’s airy singing, the jumpy baseline,
moody vibes, the active drum lines, it sounds like a pensive walk home after a strangely dramatic night. So what is Yeti Season? It
could be more of a feeling than an actual place or time of year. It’s a heavy album as evidenced by the signature musicianship and
dramatic vocal expressions. But it’s also a hopeful record, with phrasings, textures, and chord changes that hint at something better or
fuller coming our way. You hear it in songs like “Ala Vida,” with its stabby, pulsing chords laying a bedrock for EMA’s bright, atmospheric
horn lines. Or even in “Fazed Out,” which leaves you with a feeling of determination, a striving for resolution even though the driving,
march-like song structure should accompany some conquering army. This persistence has to come from the fact that Leon Michels and
company finished this record during the lockdown. It was a tough and troublesome time. But look at what has come of it: Yeti Season a
record of high and heavy drama, but also one of hope and promise. It may take a year like 2020 behind us to find hope in a winter big
footed creature like a Yeti, but that’s where we are. Track Listing SIDE A: 1. Unathi 2. Sha Na Na 3. Ala Vida 4. Fazed Out 5. Murkit
Gem SIDE B: 1. Lesson Learned 2. Dhuaan 3. Perfect Harmony 4. Silver Lining 5. Zaharila 6. Last Blast
