Lucinda Chua – YIAN

In English, YIAN translates as ‘swallow’. It’s a fitting metaphor for an album that majestically soars to blissful plateaus, but the inspiration behind the title of Lucinda Chua’s debut comes from the name her parents gave her to preserve a link to her Chinese heritage.

Using just her voice, piano and cello, the London-based composer has crafted an album of enchanting pop songs that grapple with difficult questions of culture, identity, and illusive memory. From opener Golden, written from the perspective of Chua’s younger self, and her experience of being a South London teenager with Malaysian and Chinese roots, to Echo, a piano driven ballad about living with the inherited trauma of her ancestors, these songs ache with a specific form of longing.

Bathed in a heavenly glow, it’s easy to let these songs wash over you, but Chua’s soothing vocals invite us to lean in and listen more closely. Something Other Than Years ends the album on a note both melancholic and tender: 'Show me how to live this life' she pleads, as the spotlight slowly fades; her voice echoing and forlorn through a delicate fug of strings. The track, like the rest of the album, weighs heavy with emotions.

Listen: I Promise, Echo