In anticipation of his forthcoming debut self-titled album, Black Yaya has unveiled a new video for the first single ‘Flying A Rocket’ from the record. The LP is due March 2nd via City Slang.
Directed by both Black Yaya, himself & Californian photographer Frank Fellous, the ‘Flying A Rocket’video was shot on the sunny street of Hampton Drive in Venice, California, just around the corner from where the song was written & recorded.
Speaking about the visuals, Black Yaya, aka. David Ivar went on to say “I've always liked videos in which you see the guy or the gal singing rather than a narrative. I mean, if I like a song, I want to see how the singer looks like and how they sing it, I'll leave the story unfold in the song and its lyrics, I don't want to add one on top, visually. I'm interested in Photography as an Art Form, and portraits in particular, I'd like to think that this video is a nice portrait of me singing my song.”
Black Yaya is a new singer, songwriter, although he’s not new to the world of singer-songwriters. Indeed, he used to write, record and perform under Herman Dune. After travelling the seven seas and beyond with Herman Dune and recording more than ten albums with that band, Ivar decided he wanted to create something new so Black Yaya was born, the new moniker of Ivar.
One morning in November of 2012, David Ivar woke up with the strange feeling that he could not be in a band anymore, at least for the moment. He loved every moment he’d had shared with his friend, his brother, but he was different now. He needed to be able to speak for himself & for himself only.
For Black Yaya, David Ivar wanted to go back to recording everything himself, far from the recording facilities he had got used to with Herman Dune. He wanted to feel like he had when he was using four track tape recorders in High School, free to try anything with no pressure in terms of time spent working, or cost. His heroes were Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan and John Lennon he admired them with all his heart, they were singers, writers and guitar players, and that was all he cared for... He felt they were the highest point of creativity, and that he’d better aim to the top, if one day he wanted to reach high, or at least to raise the level a little bit.
David Ivar gathered his guitar and recording equipment, mainly an Electrovoice microphone he’d got for the price of two bottles of tequila (Patron, but still), and took them to Los Angeles, California, near Malibu, where he knew he could afford a studio apartment by the ocean. The songs of Black Yaya were to be recorded by himself, entirely, drums, basses, guitars, pianos, organs, harps and whatnot. His partner Mayon lent her voice to the tracks, and he took his recordings to a friend of his, Antoine Gaillet, who had just opened his own studio, named Goo after his favorite Sonic Youth album for the mixing. He shared the new sounds and songs for the first time there. After a week or so in the studio working on the final mix, he felt it was ready, ready to go.
The forthcoming, eponymous self-titled record is the only official collection of Black Yaya songs known to date and will be available on March 2nd via City Slang. The initial limited vinyl edition will come with a bonus 7“ including 3 unreleased songs.
Whether it be the funk-fuelled grooves of ‘Glad Tidings’, the upbeat harmonica-notes on ‘Watchman’ or the mellow tones of ‘Through The Deep Note’ the debut LP from Black Yaya is packed with catchy pop-folk soaked tracks that makes the album so easy on the ear and marks a new and exciting step for David Ivar.
Album track list:
1. Flying A Rocket
2. Glad Tidings
3. Watchman
4. Lo & Behold
5. Through The Deep Night
6. Vigilante
7. Under Your Skin
8. Gimme A Gun
9. Save Them Little Children
