Lily Yellow — Yes I Say No

The „naysayers“ have gotten a bad name lately in this part of the world. But Lily Yellow will change this rapidly. For this Bernese singer says No: She says No with her current single, the dance hit “Yes I Say No”, in such a finger-flicking-tongue-clicking-hip-rolling-breezy-cool way as one hears only seldom around here. Soul, Dub, Folk-Noir, Pop and Trip-Hop merge and make even the less enthusiastic dancers move their hips.

“Yes I Say No” is also the title of Lily Yellows long awaited debut album. It was produced by “Zachov” a.k.a. Jacob Suske from Berlin (amongst others: One Shot Orchestra, Ex-Bonaparte, Ex-Lunik), who set the twelve songs in a beautiful fresh electronic body of sound – and thus stamped his unmistakable mark onto the album. The album is not least characterized by the skillful mix of styles and because the 27 year old Lily Yellow does not get her inspiration exclusively from the Alternative corner. Pop-appeal is not a foul name in this case, but merely the consequence of clever songwriting, grand melodies, relaxed playing and a heavenly voice.

The songs on “Yes I Say No” seem sometimes bright yellow and happy-hopeful, sometimes night-black and phlegmatic, but always with a dreamy, melancholically cheerful atmosphere. Contrasts which can be felt not only in the album title, but also in the music. Lily Yellow never loses her train of thought and skillfully utilizes her whole range, which carries her often above and beyond to places which are unknown probably even to herself. This shows a lot of courage, a willingness to take risks and a respectable helping of self-irony.

But this does not come as a great surprise. Behind the veil of Lily Yellow stands the singer Nina Gutknecht, who has emerged in the past few years among others as the frontwoman of the Bernese Soul stage-monster Grundi, as well as associate musician of Baze and Lea Lu. Over time she felt the ever stronger urge to make her own music. With Lily Yellow she has now blazed her own trail, without constraining herself within her form of musical expression – or yielding to the temptation of generic Hits. She knows what she wants and she does it always with this charming, seductive YES, followed by a confident, uncompromising NO!