(Compost/Creative Vibes)

Meet Eddy and Yannah. Yannah, aka Jana Valdevit, was born in Croatia.  After growing up surrounded by music, it was only natural she began to study musicology and sing in a number of bands and jazz projects.  She started writing songs and lyrics, and as creating music became a priority for her, she also began acquiring arranging, production and programming skills. 

Meanwhile, Eddy Ramich was born in the Netherlands to Slovak and Croatian parents.  Developing an interest in hiphop during the days of breakdance fever, he began DJing, and was introduced to the sounds of acid jazz and soulful house while living in the UK during the late 80s.  After moving to Croatia to study, Eddy scored his first residency and started hosting his own radio show.  He also moved into remixing and production, most notably with Dus under the moniker Eddy&Dus, releasing the highly acclaimed High Life album.  And then Eddy met Yannah.

Now both based in Zagreb, Croatia, the duo have just had their debut album released on the respected Compost Records, home to Kruder & Dorfmeister.  Just Like… takes in the duo’s varied influences, from Yannah’s jazz singing to Eddy’s involvement in the yearly Future Jazz Festival Kontrapunkt at his club.

Yannah’s vocals feature on the majority of the tracks, often quite prominently.  The album breaks the ice with a vocal track, Reach The Sky, which is also the first single.  It’s an uptempo soulful number with has a buoyant and vibrant mood.  On Are U That Someone? Yannah’s vocals are breathy, over the sultry broken beats, while on Changes, a slowed down number, they’re quite smooth.  Her vocals are particularly prominent on Supernova, which naturally feels very uplifting, on which Yannah sings “I would love to be… the sun that lights up your face.” 

Meanwhile, some of the tracks are just instrumentals.  A pair of the instrumentals, the title track and Thinkin’ About the Dayz, are both rather jazz influenced, the former an upbeat track while the latter is more chic and mature sounding.  It’s on the instrumentals too that the duo’s more electronic leanings can come to the fore, as evidenced by the pulsing electronic break beats on Perfect Day 4 Playin’ Football and the swirling sci-fi sounding synths on Return to Paklenica.

The duo’s Eastern European roots also show through in some of their quirkier moments, such as on Can’t Hide Love and Rooftop.  Can’t Hide Love, an almost unrecognisable Earth, Wind and Fire cover, is an upbeat jazzy moment, with touches of ethnic sounding music.  Rooftop features spiced up vocals, classical guitar and broken beats.

However, the most important element of the music on Just Like… is probably the melodies.  As Rainer Trüby has said in praise of the album, “expect sweet melodies and harmonies to die for.”  The second track on the album, Shamed, is a beautiful, swish, melodious song.  Later on, Smile features delicate smooth melodies.  The track brings the album to a close, leaving you with a smile on your face. 

Well, it certainly left me with a smile on my face.  Just Like…  is a strong debut from Eddy Meets Yannah, and is sure to be only the first introduction of many to this duo.