I like you, Jienan! And only partially for naming a song "Because SK" (which, by the way, I hope is about Saskatchewan), but actually for making an EP that's worth putting on for its brief 18 minutes. Nylon stringed guitars, hushed background vocals, and a melancholic refrain are all that's needed to lock my attention. I was won over within the first 30 seconds.
"We Saw Everything" contains only five songs, all of which were written and recorded between 2000 and 2008 (maybe why this is a collection of "just the meat"), but every one of them is necessary to the landscape of Yuan's vision. This is a soundtrack for the days when you're on the bus heading to your shitty job, feeling alone and broken, wondering why the sky is perpetually grey this week, and realizing that there is something depressingly beautiful about the urban decay and decline.
With un-rushed , atmospheric, and sweltering songs, "We Saw Everything" is but a taste of Jienan Yuan's talent, and since a full-length album is in the works we are about to be introduced to a much grander experience.
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Track Listing:
1) Glint
2) Because SK
3) No Land's Man
4) Walking Between The Lines
5) Magdalena Avenue


