yeule
Location: Singapore
Genre: Pop, Glitch Pop, Ambient
Years Active: 2012 -
Real Name: Nat Cmiel
Meaning of the Name: Taken from the Final Fantasy character Paddra Nsu-Yuel.
Way of Working: Singular artistic vision.
Essential Releases
Serotonin II (2019)
Debut album. Luxurious ambient textures meet glitch.
Softscars (2023)
The use of guitars provides extra bite and greater emotional range.
The internet as cultural form is a concept fully embodied by yeule. With a striking sense of fashion and metallic-hued make-up, the artist's almost cybernetic appearance is like a character in a high-budget anime. Yeule's music feels not just modern, but hyper-modern; it's the sound of the near-future bleeding into the present. Heavily influenced by the "synthetic robo-girls" of science fiction like Ghost in the Shell, the Singaporean also owes a debt to the glitchy electronic soundtracks of computer games, and the foundational IDM of Aphex Twin.
Technology and futurism permeate yeule's entire creative output. Promotional materials are rendered in lowercase, mirroring the informal, rapid-fire shorthand of internet culture. As an example, the track titled '4ui12' means "for you I want to". It is deliberately opaque "leetspeak" that appears indecipherable and gatekeeps the net from the uninitiated, such as parents and authority figures who are not yet members of the tribe.
This futurism is equally potent in yeule's visual work. In the video for 'dazies,' the singer is depicted broken into parts, vocalising while strewn across a floor with wires protruding from detached limbs. Despite lacking blood, the body has a hauntingly familiar face, not entirely machine, but not entirely human either.
The driving force behind this aesthetic is the modern sensation of being disembodied online. If you spend the majority of your time in cyberspace, "presence" in the real world can feel secondary, and it becomes possible to view oneself as a purely digital being. While yeule doesn't claim to be literally mechanical, the singer's work captures how a life spent online can feel that way.
This digital existence also informs yeule's non-binary identity. In the physical world, we are tethered to our bodies in a very real sense, but in the digital realm no such restrictions apply. Online the body is absent. On the track 'bloodbunny,' yeule rejoices in this freedom: "Don’t you feel so pure when you don’t have a body?"
Interestingly, beneath the metallic sheen, the music possesses a profound sense of innocence. The vocal delivery is often monosyllabic, placing one syllable on each beat to create a rhythmic simplicity reminiscent of nursery rhymes.
This innocence, combined with high technology, is indicative of "new life" being born online. It feels as though the inhabitants of the internet are a new breed, fumbling through their first tentative steps in a digital world. In this space, there are no countries and no wars; digital versions of ourselves can, theoretically, live forever. The name yeule itself is taken from the Final Fantasy character Paddra Nsu-Yeul, who, in the game's lore, is the first human ever created.
The juxtaposition of this naivety with technology is perfectly captured on the cover of Softscars (2024). yeule appears in characteristically futuristic style, yet sports a classic signifier of youth and innocence: pigtails. It's the perfect visual for an artist reinventing what it means to be human in a digital age.
Skills
*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.Emotional Impact
70
Mental Impact
75
Originality
90
Artistry
100
Authenticity
70
Live
70
Production
90
Musicianship
60
Singing
70
Songwriting
80
Danceability
60
Fun
50
Consistency
80
Range
80
Cool
70
Charisma
50
