"What Was It All For???" by YNES

You'll like this: YNES is back today with new music in the shape of her single "What Was It All For???".

Since moving to the west coast of Canada three years back, she has faced a variety of challenges & battled a variety of demons: hence we've not heard too much from her apart from a live album of her ‘Born Loser' songs and a brace of Christmas tracks

However now she's roaring back on multiple battle fronts (see below for another and they are inseparable) and even if you'd never heard her full on assault on whatever the target of a particular song might be (and she doesn't spare herself in this respect) in any of her previous work, when you come to check out  "What Was It All For???" online, you'll probably spot that nervous appendage that timid platforms stick onto the more powerful songs: yes, they want you to know that it's "explicit" in case that's a turn off rather than all the more reason to play it.

Of course all they mean is that there may be expletives deployed or adult themes explored. Being explicit is hardly a fault in art is it? And YNES is always at pains (particularly here) to ensure that you understand what she wants you to & you never get meaning distorted through any sort of filter in her songs. If you're shocked by what you hear, maybe that's not her fault at all but an indication that you have some thinking still to do.

Anyway, "What Was It All For???" is prime YNES: unflinching and intense. A relentless crunchy backing grinds throughout the track, wearing down that sort of emotional resistance I just alluded to & over this YNES unloads a lot of harsh truths she has gained from her battles. I defy anyone to be unmoved by this & surely that's the point of any art? You can't ignore it: it must push at least one emotional button.

At this point, please bear with me on a slight digression which applies more obliquely to this single but which I think reinforces what I just said. The context is a wholly unsolicited bit of online abuse from a transphobic bigot aimed at our next ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraiser for The Tin. What he thought he was achieving is beyond me but firstly, while I was corresponding with YNES, she had independently branded the same gig as "sick" which accolade obviously far outweighs the ignorance. Thank you YNES. The second is that however much we appreciate the support & shared values of whatever cultural & ideological community we build around ourselves, there are a lot of nasty attitudes out there whether we engage with them or not & sooner or later we end up in contact with them. YNES has never been afraid to acknowledge their existence nor sweep them under a carpet & consistently has opted to wear her heart on her sleeves and to take them on. That's a major part of her creative DNA.

The subject matters are more of the internal & existential here and seem to relate to her victory over alcohol: there is an outpouring of detail and while the removal of toxicity is less of a primal scream therapy than a matter of fact delivery therapy, this doesn't lessen the strength: the rationality and control impress greatly. Even the impact of what she's been going through on her music career is touched upon. Despite not sounding very much like John Lennon's ‘Plastic Ono Band' album, it has the same cathartic nature & maybe I won't be the only one to point this out.

Even more good news: YNES will be over in the UK next month & has a launch event for Issue #1 of her new "Fair Play!" magazine which seeks to address the fact that only 8% of those working in creative industries come from working class backgrounds.  It's at The Tin on June 12^th. Expect a star studded lineup & proceeds from the PWYC entrance will be split between:

Positive Youth Foundation: Supporting young people - particularly those underrepresented or with lived experience of injustice - to use arts and creativity to influence change in their lives.

Arts Uplift: Transforming the lives of vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged adults, using the power of creative arts, connection and self-expression.

Women for Refugee Women: Supporting a network of over 760 refugee and asylum-seeking women to develop their confidence and skills, through creative and educational activities.

You can get your ticket via this link:

https://events.humanitix.com/fair-play-issue-1-launch-party

The overall message one might take away from these two linked enterprises is YNES' defiant sense of autonomous agency both in herself & promoting it for others.

"It's D.I.Y Ennit"