Yusufyoko – Love Me Then (2022)
While it is important that we try and stay true to who we are, there is an amount of courage required for this that some people find hard to build up. If you are one of these people, you can easily find yourself connecting with the internal dialogue of ‘Love Me Then’ by Yusufyoko. Through this single, he delves into a world of inner conflict and chatter within your head as you grapple with the need to be who you are and the fear that is holding you back.
While the single comes across as a conversation with yourself, there is a diary entry vibe to the overall flow. Yusufyoko uses his music to reach out to others through a universal language that transcends divides and barriers. A self-taught musician, he plays all the instruments on his tracks, before getting the help of musician friends to finalise the sound.
There is a rather chill vibe to the opening of ‘Love Me Then’ that touches on some lo-fi jazz and RnB. This chilled vibe slowly rises and transforms into a hazy flow of internal spaces where you float as you converse with yourself. While creating this space, there is an undulating movement in the low levels that bring some rather avant-garde wisps of coloured smoke to the soundscape. There is a dynamic feeling to the melody that is softened by the lo-fi wash. As you listen, you can hear a continuous addition of instrumentation that starts to pack the melody, like your brain being filled with too many thoughts, all vying for attention. The horns rise out of the misty background to burst with life and dance with the swaying beats. There is a lot going on in this melody, creating a rather experimental sound that leaves you loving something new each time you listen to it.
While you are grasping onto new elements with each listen to the melody, the vocals cover you in a blanket of hazy softness. The wisps of clouds in the melody are echoed in the vocals as they gently glide across your senses. His performance brings a smooth touch of RnB, while drawing you into an internal conversation. While the lyrics avoid the substance of the conversation, they invoke the emotions of these internal dialogues. Packed with the worry of not being accepted for who you are, the single hits at the root of the fear that holds us back.
Yusufyoko crafts a soft internal space as he taps into inner dialogues, fears and anxiety through the chilled yet dynamic vibes of ‘Love Me Then’. The melody is packed with new elements that shine differently each time you listen to the track. His vocals are a soft sigh against your senses as he dives into the heart of fear and pushes the courage to be yourself into your mind.
