When Yijia first heard a rare field recording of traditional Yi ethnic minority music, she couldn’t explain why it resonated so deeply. The London-based singer and multi-instrumentalist had been sent the track by a musician friend, and the sound felt almost like a calling. Only later, through a DNA test, did she discover why: she is more than a quarter Yi herself. That revelation would become the foundation for Yi The Sun, the new single from her upcoming album TU, set for release on 22 August.
The track is a collision of time and sound, where ancient voices of the Yi people from Southwestern China meet futuristic ambient-psychedelic trance. Yijia describes the song as “taking my ancestors clubbing,” a playful but telling phrase. The composition is at once an homage to tradition and a daring act of reinvention, rooted in cultural memory while pulsing with modern life.
The lyrics heighten that sense of homecoming. “Hey, hello, is anyone home? I’ve been gone for too long,” Yijia sings, evoking both the isolation of a traveler returning to a changed Earth and the deeper ache of ancestral longing. The music oscillates between cosmic distance and grounded rhythm, offering listeners a journey that feels intimate yet otherworldly.
Yijia is no stranger to reinvention. As a teenager, she found fame in China as a pop star but struggled with what she has since described as a disconnect from her cultural roots. In the years that followed, she immersed herself in the study and practice of traditional folk music, exploring everything from Mongolian throat singing to Chinese lullabies. That journey culminated in two TED Talks about how music transcends time, space, and memory, and it now takes audible form in her new album.
TU weaves together traditional songs and original compositions in a tapestry that spans geography and generations. Alongside Yi The Sun, the album includes reimaginings of folk pieces such as Mongolia’s Sunrise On The Horizon, China’s Red Mountain Flowers, and the Tuvan song Konguroi. It also features Yijia’s own works, including Willow Flowers, which earned the Oxford University Mapleton-Bree Prize. At the heart of the record is the guzheng, the ancient Chinese zither that Yijia has played since childhood and that anchors the album’s blend of past and present.
“This isn’t about worshipping the ashes of the past, but about preserving the creative fire,” Yijia says. It’s a philosophy that runs through her career. She has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, WOMAD Festival, and London’s Southbank Centre, and has been featured on BBC Radio 3 and the BBC World Service. A graduate of SOAS and Oxford, she holds a Global Talent endorsement from Arts Council UK.
Her recent EP Chinese Whisperer (BMG/Alt-Life) and collaborations with English folk band Stornoway further showcased her ability to bridge cultural and musical traditions. Through her folk fusion band The Sages, which she co-founded with Irish musician Pèdar Connolly-Davey, she continues to spotlight underrepresented musical legacies.
With Yi The Sun as its centerpiece, TU promises to be Yijia’s boldest statement yet—a record that seeks connection across time, cultures, and identities. For an artist who once felt estranged from her heritage, it is not just an album release, but a return, a reclamation, and a reimagining of what it means to come home.
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