“When I’m writing, it’s mostly when I’m in a dejected or melancholy mood,” says Yu Lei (魚雷), songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and frontwoman of the band U.TA (屋塔). “I can’t really just spout off at people. As a result, these emotions come out in the music as commentary on people and on the world.”
U.TA specializes in a style rarely encountered in Taiwan’s indie-music scene: dream pop. With hypnotic whispering vocals reminiscent of the Cocteau Twins, the band’s music is unlike anything you’ve heard in the pop market since Faye Wong (王菲).
“I became enchanted with the dream pop sound when I heard songs [in that style] by Faye Wong,” Yu Lei explains, adding that she got to like Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star later on. As the band’s leader and songwriter, Yu Lei’s taste for atmospheric, contemplative music defines her band’s style.
“All in all, this is not very happy music,” she says.
U.TA evolved from its former incarnation Zibet, a band Yu Lei joined during her college years. After graduation, she and bassist Garry moved on to form U.TA in 2005. On Sunday evening they will be performing the last show of a three-month promotional tour in support of their new EP, Good, Night, which was released this July.
The four-track CD is a dream-drenched musical journey of existential questioning, with Yu Lei’s sensual voice crooning over a flowing sonic river of overlapping bass and echoing synth. To Live (活著), a track revamped from a song composed during the band’s Zibet phase, explores today’s world. With moaning and whimpering vocals, Obsession (著迷) details the different forms of romantic obsession. What (什麼) tackles the theme of alienation in modern urban landscapes, and Flower (花) questions the nature of love and trust.
“I chose this [CD] title because I think this album makes a perfect bedtime sound track. It’s the kind of music you can listen to while contemplating what happened to you today and what it means,” says Yu Lei, who was interviewed by phone on Wednesday. “With our music, you don’t always have to pay attention to the lyrics. Sometimes, you can just wallow in the atmosphere.”
The band released its first EP, Boys & Girls (男孩 女孩), in 2006 and produced two additional singles before this year’s release. This rather thin output can be attributed to perfectionism and a stubborn insistence on stylistic integrity, which results in songs that are ethereal and textured, slow-building, and always ultimately rewarding.
“I don’t like to release a song until I am satisfied with it,” says Yu Lei.
“We weren’t that aggressive before because of the nature of an amateur band,” she adds. “It wasn’t our focus until we signed with the current label to release this EP commercially.”
Yu Lei works as a graphic designer by day and is also studying fashion design. Garry is a salesman at a stereo store. With her background in design, Yu Lei pushed the indie-rock ethos to the limit by printing CD covers and burning copies of the band’s first two singles herself.
She says she wasn’t thinking about the long-term value of the CDs at the time. “We did it more out of budgetary concerns because we would have had to order a significantly larger quantity if we had chosen to print by machine.”
Unlike most bands who aspire to perform at bigger and bigger venues, U.TA prefers more intimate settings.
“Our music is ideal for the night and for a quiet setting. We have performed at outdoor festivals where our music is easily drowned out by the noise,” says Yu Lei. “I love cafes and live houses where people can listen carefully and enjoy the music. When I am performing, I need to create a space to envelop the audience. When something goes wrong, that space is compromised.”
Recently, Yu Lei has noticed that U.TA’s fan base seems to be getting younger.
“It used to be that our audiences were older, sophisticated people with more life experience,” she says. “The world is less happy these days, even for young people. They need the cathartic release they can find in our music.”
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