YONAKA - Until You're Satisfied
Theresa Jarvis and co. arrive with a new clarity of purpose.
Despite punctuating the time with mixtapes and EPs, seven years between albums is a long time for any band, and for YONAKA - whose 2019 debut 'Don't Wait 'Til Tomorrow' arrived with considerable momentum - it could have been fatal. 'Until You're Satisfied' proves it was not. Across thirteen tracks and forty-one minutes, the band's second record sounds like a recalibration, Theresa Jarvis and co. arriving with a new clarity of purpose.
'Intro' does what its name promises: brief, direct, setting the album's temperature without overstaying. It feeds directly into 'Problems', which locks into a groove that is heavier and more deliberate than much of the debut, Jarvis's vocal cutting through the mix. 'Cruel' is the album's sharpest moment. Its verse is coiled and rhythmically tight, Jarvis delivering lines with a precision that contrasts with the chorus's broader, more emotionally exposed sweep.
Not everything lands perfectly, but you can see why it's worth giving it a try. If those ideas are embraced with real determination, they're far more likely to pack the punch required. 'Miss Millennial' takes aim with a title that could have tipped into heavy-handedness, but is saved by the performance. Jarvis has spoken about the album exploring "matters of the heart - the dirty bits and the harsh bits," and here the harsh bits take precedence. 'Eat You Alive' is its complement; equally forceful but more controlled, its chorus suggesting arena ambitions without abandoning the band's club-sized instincts.
'Trouble Follows' sits in the album's mid-section and marks a shift, slower and more deliberate after four songs of sustained intensity. 'Best Of Me' follows with a similar energy, its melody more prominent than the riff-driven approach of the earlier tracks, and together the two songs form a quieter pocket within the album that prevents the pace from becoming exhausting.
YONAKA sound like a band who spent seven years figuring out what they wanted to say, and have returned with the composure to say it properly, even if the results don't always land with the force they're aiming for.
