Album Review: Wishyunu

Husband-and-wife duo Bei Yan and Tony Bertaccini have been cranking tunes out of their windowless basement recording studio since 2008, and it's starting to show: This latest four-track EP, the third crop of dreamy, lush tracks the synth-and-drums duo has released under the moniker Wishyunu, sounds like it wafted out of a cloud of hookah smoke inside, well, a basement with no windows. But Futuray also marks a point of development for the couple. Enlisting the participation of Jeremy Sherrer, a local production and mixing artist, it's the first time the members of Wishyunu has collaborated with an outsider, and the result is their most consistent product yet.

The EP opens with "Neutron," an effervescent soundscape featuring layers of Thom Yorke-esque vocals. That gives way to "Sprayy," whose languid beat bears resemblance to Air's "Playground Love." Bei has taken up electric guitar, the presence of which is most evident in the prancing "Walkaway." The EP closes with the haunting, crunchy "Canyon," rounding out an album that is much more homogenous, sonically, than its predecessor, A Day No How. The consistency signals that the group has finally found a cozy niche in its dark basement, and is sticking to it.

HEAR IT: Futuray is available on cassette Sunday, Aug. 11.

WWeek 2015