Since their October 2007 debut, All Hour Cymbals, Brooklyn's Yeasayer has blurred genre boundaries and generated buzz with every concert and album release. This year's Amen & Goodbye was no different.
Originally written on piano by Anand Wilder as a lullaby for his daughter, "Uma" eventually took the form of a fully orchestrated demo. The leading hook of the song, though, was reimagined for the final version using a Korg MS-20 to get a haunting, vocal, theremin-like tone.
Many people would listen to the first version with more traditional instrumentation and think the song was album-ready. But it takes deeper listening and a sense of possibility to find a voicing like Ira and Anand did and create something truly memorable.
What do you think?