Although the pandemic was challenging for musicians, the global pause was a blessing in disguise for alternative R&B artist Yuna, who hails from sunny, tropical Malaysia. After ten years on the road, the musician spent 18 months back home in Kuala Lumpur and finding herself no longer in constant motion helped re-balance her priorities and shifted how Yuna wants to approach her career as a musician going forward. With nothing else to do, the singer transformed her father’s office into a studio and taught herself how to produce.

“It was like the first few months when I realized that I learned how to write songs,” Yuna recalls. “I discovered something new about myself, that I can produce. And now I can write and I don't have to depend on anyone else for music—I can do things myself. I got really inspired by that. I was streaming my studio sessions for my fans on Twitch and I kept thinking, ‘How do I want to release this album? Do I want to keep it a secret and two years later we have an album?’ I decided I can't do that anymore. There’s something very powerful about being an independent artist and knowing I can do this my own way.”

Rather than follow a traditional release structure, Yuna is unveiling Y5 as four EP and a final album throughout 2022, each accompanied by visuals directed by filmmaker Adam Sinclair, who is also Yuna’s husband. The musician is recording the songs in stages, offering the new music in bite-sized collections that allow every track to be a standout moment. The first, Y1, arrived in March, featuring three songs—“Hello,” “Pantone 17 13 30” and “Cigarette”—while the second, Y2, showcases three more, “Girl U Used to Know,” “24hours” and “Make a Move.” Yuna is acting as the producer of Y5 as she also collaborates with other songwriters and producers, including The Fisticuffs (Brian Warfield & Maclean Robinson), Biako (Itai Shapira), Josh Grant, THE ELEV3N and Malay Ho.

For each set of songs, Yuna is drawing on various influences and musical styles, from soul to R&B to guitar-driven indie rock. Y2 specifically looks to 2000s R&B for inspiration, with “Make a Move” harkening back to the work of artists like Aaliyah and Janet Jackson. “Girl U Used to Know” sees Yuna re-teaming with The Fisticuffs, who worked on her 2016 album Chapters. Much of the music was recorded in Yuna’s living room in Los Angeles, which lends a compelling intimacy to the songs.

“I wanted to make it possible so that the songs have equal attention on them,” Yuna explains. “There is a certain connection on each EP and a theme that’s going on. My goal for each EP is to bring some specific to life. Y1 is very soul, very R&B, but also throwback-y and lo-fi. Y2 is more straight R&B. On the third one, I was inspired by growing up listening to The Cardigans and wanted to do something where I was playing guitar. It all goes back to me doing something I enjoy, instead feeling forced into something that’s a single. I wanted to try just writing from the heart and making something that is 100 percent mine. Every song represents something I love that I want to share with the world.”

Yuna has always embraced a lot of musical styles. Growing up in Kuala Lumpur, she was exposed to a wide variety of homegrown and western music, thanks in large part to her father's wide-ranging tastes in American rock, pop, blues and jazz. She began writing her own confessional songs, most of them in English, at the age of 14. She was still in her teens when she began performing her compositions in public, initially accompanying herself on acoustic guitar and later forming a full band. Since her self-titled 2012 debut album and her Pharrell Williams-produced breakthrough hit “Live Your Life,” Yuna has released three studio albums and two EPs, and collaborated with artists like Usher, G-Eazy, Tyler, the Creator, Sweat$ and Lil Simz.

By staying true to her identity as a Muslim South East Asian woman, Yuna has developed a sense of authenticity in her music and become a voice for a vast global fanbase. Her career is a result of hard work and confidence, and she’s survived the ups and down of the music industry and come out the other side as a skilled independent artist who wants to do things her own way. She recently launched #Yunationals, an official fan club for her audience that allows her to connect with listeners and share stories. Her impressive, inspiring journey from aspiring musician to established artist and producer who owns her own music is evident on Y5, an album that opens a new chapter in Yuna’s career.

“Making this album takes me back to that time when I was an independent artist making music in my bedroom in Malaysia,” Yuna reflects. “I was this girl who had big dreams, but stuff like this don't happen to kids like us. To come from Malaysia and be able to build a career out of my music is incredible. I’ve been making music for 15 years, but I’m still learning. Now, I want to focus on making things that make me happy, instead of the things that makes me stressed out. I want to find that balance. With this new album, I feel reborn as an artist.”