Dutch neo-psych group Yin Yin deliver their best work since their debut.
Release date: January 23, 2026 | Glitterbeat Records | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp
If you were alive and working anywhere remotely cool in 2019, you without a doubt were exposed to the psychedelic stylings of Yin Yin‘s first album The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers via Pandora or whatever the fuck we used to use back then. “One Inch Punch” played so often at the hair salon I was at that I almost began to resent it, but would eventually relent and realize the Dutch foursome’s wiggly tunes were actually really good. Rabbit got a ton of coverage both online and on live radio, and sent Yin Yin into the relative stratosphere popularity-wise. Things seemed to be trending upwards for the group–that is, until COVID hit less than a year later, delaying their tour. While the lockdown did lead to their second album The Age of Aquarius, I can’t help but feel like Yin Yin had a bit of an aborted lift-off. Aquarius didn’t quite hit for me, nor did 2024’s Mount Matsu, which introduced a distinctly Japanese influence on the overall sound.
Mount Matsu did leave me intrigued, though, and I was hopeful that Yatta! would build upon that new angle and let it cook more. Fortunately, I was correct, and Yatta! is their best work since their debut. This record is an excellent return to form as well as a musical step forward for the band. This is always a hard balance to maintain; having a recognizable sound is important to a group’s identity, but the same dozen songs again and again doesn’t do anyone any good.
The overall ‘vibe’ of Yatta! is that of a retro film score, but one that is playing at a disco club on a projector. The album is highly cinematic throughout, and frequently conjures the image of a black-and-white movie from the 60s set somewhere in Asia. This objectively rules. It’s a fun sonic concept for a record, intentional or not, and extremely immersive for the listener. There’s been a ton of ‘fake vintage’ media in the last five or six years, where a contemporary musician or film director or visual artist takes clear inspiration from older works and faithfully recreates a new version, and Yatta! fits right into this oeuvre.
Tracks like “Night in Taipei” and “Golden Lion” take this the most literally by using traditional instruments, but even the songs with less direct Japanese influence still manage to evoke the general idea. “Lecker Song” almost feels like an Eastern take on an Old Western type of score, with reverbed and whammied guitar taking center stage.
Yatta!, like much of Yin Yin’s previous work, is primarily instrumental. While this may prevent them from true mainstream popularity, I think this approach serves the album very well. Yin Yin are, at heart, a groove band, and any chance to showcase their extremely tight and in-sync playing is to their benefit. In fact, I actually think Yatta!’s sole track with true vocals (aside from some chants in the semi-title track) is to the record’s mild detriment. “Spirit Adapter” is by no means bad, but at this point, I’ve kind of had enough of white boy falsetto singing. It just makes the song feel a bit like a late-career Tame Impala or Parcels B-side, and considering the most recent albums from those two are pretty poor, that’s not doing a ton for Yin Yin other than adding to a muddy pool.
But Yin Yin delivers with the rest of Yatta!, primarily because the aforementioned groove is so incredibly locked-in. It’s easy for some bands in this sphere to find a good sound and then never do anything else, like the excellent but tragically repetitive Glass Beams (I love Phrygian jamz as much as anyone, but we need another scale here, folks). Yin Yin avoid this by swinging high and utilizing a huge swath of instruments–swirling orchestral violins, East Asian strings, woodwinds, you name it. They also throw in a good amount of disco and funk this time around, which feels like a natural progression from their mega-hit debut. Album opener “In Search of Yang” instantly delivers a disco drum beat overlaid with a catchy-as-anything string melody and funk rhythm guitar strums. We even get something resembling Mort Garson on “Kasumi’s Quest”, complete with oscillating synths. Cool.
I’ve already mentioned this a few times, but I’ll be as direct as possible: the technical skill on display here is inspiring, particularly from bassist Remy Scheren. These guys are clearly used to working together despite a lineup change, but what’s exciting to me is that Yatta! sounds both technically pristine and, somehow, still human at the same time. There’s a cheesy glossiness that tends to poison albums for me when everything sounds a little too perfect, a little insincere. Yin Yin are impressive while maintaining a genuineness that only comes with serious hard work and practice.
I foresee Yatta! becoming one of Yin Yin‘s more popular albums, and man, they deserve it. Throw it on, make a cocktail, and enjoy your trip to Taipei.
