UCHE YARA - GOLDEN DAYS EP press textSince making her striking debut last year, twenty one year old Austrian singer-songwriter UCHE YARA has proven herself a mighty tour de force. Invigorating, avant-garde and genre-bending, her inspirational sonic offerings know no bounds and presents her forthright, experimental flair to the highest degree. With influences spanning from Tierra Whack, James Blake and Tyler, the Creator, to Bilderbuch and Alex The Flipper, as well as a thirst to carve out her own niche, she has pioneered a remarkably fresh yet distinctive sound over the past eight months, and her debut five track EP GOLDEN DAYS is no different. GOLDEN DAYS, a diverse and bold collage of creations written over time, from naive adolescence to young adulthood, represents the rich tapestry of her life so far. Painted with a warm, youthful glow, UCHE hopes that listeners take this record as an encouraging tale of courage and foresight. Anything is possible; art knows no bounds and all emotions are valid. “I would love it if people felt inspired to embrace life and simply have a good time.” She shares.EP opener ‘ZUU (zoo)’ flirts with a creativity and imagination that has become so synonymous with UCHE YARA. Here she embodies the role of a Zookeeper, sharing playful anecdotes about her daily life at the zoo, whilst playing with differing, leaping time signatures. ‘SASHA (wake up!)’ recorded on her 19th birthday, brims with excitement and a sense of affirming self-confidence. She recaps that the initial idea for the track sparked from experimenting with a detuned, broken Saz in a studio in Berlin and playing with a drum loop by Alex The Flipper. “We originally intended to create a Trap Beat for another artist using this material.” She states, “However, I resonated so deeply with the feeling that I crafted the song structure, the guitar and bass line, and the hook within 30 minutes. Listening to the recording envelops me in a blend of passion, wanderlust, and a unique sense of empowerment.”The oldest song on the EP, ‘Lazy Sundayz’, was written at the mere age of 18. Heavily influenced by artists like D'Angelo and James Blake at this phase in her life, here she learned to discover how humour can be present in music, “particularly evident in the second verse, I believe”. The titular track ‘GOLDEN DAYS’ represents freedom and welcoming summer. Composed after leaving school, she warmly refers to the tune as her “graduation song”. Forever the optimist, she remarks that there's beauty in farewells; they always mark new beginnings, meaning “one can bid goodbye with a wide grin”. Deceivingly sunny EP closing track ‘I <3 Rome’, was in fact not written in the height of summer, but during a Christmas trip to Rome with one of her nearest and dearest friends. UCHE YARA’s goal is to have listeners feel inspired, uplifted and understood, and with a debut EP so colorful, electric and unique, she is solidly marking herself as an artist to keep watch of.