Yeule (stylised as yeule) is the musical project of Singaporean songwriter and producer Nat Ćmiel (born Natasha Yelin Chang). Formed in 2012, Yeule incorporates elements of

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

, glitch and Asian post-pop. The name Yeule is derived from the ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...

'' character of the same name (spelled differently), as well as their middle name.

Early life

Ćmiel was born Natasha Yelin Chang in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

where they attended school. They first started playing music at the age of 6 on their parents' Yamaha piano and learned classically although eventually dropped taking lessons, and wanted to explore something more challenging which led them to

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. Ćmiel initially started playing

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

pieces, though they soon moved onto songs from the soundtracks of

Final Fantasy X is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square as the tenth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Originally released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, the game was re-released as ''Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster'' for PlayStat ...

and

Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square (video game company), Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya ...

. They later went onto sing in a jazz band under the name Riot Diet, covering songs from

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and the Pixies. After graduating from high school, they applied to Central Saint Martins to study fashion communication and womenswear. Growing up, feelings of loneliness and depression were present due in part to Ćmiel's nomadic upbringing. They found solace on the internet, which would influence their later works.

History

Ćmiel's first release under the Yeule title was their self titled EP on March 3, 2014. On December 11, 2016, Ćmiel released their second EP, ''Pathos'', which was dedicated to David Singh. Ćmiel followed up with the OST to interactive simulator game ''Lost Memories Dot Net'', which was released on July 17, 2017. On September 27, 2017, Ćmiel released their third EP, ''Coma''. With regard to the writing, they said that "I wrote this album to commemorate the people I'd lost." The EP received a positive reception with Duncan Cooper of The Fader describing it as "dream-pop perfection". Ćmiel signed to

Bayonet Records A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illu ...

on July 17, 2019. On October 25, 2019, Ćmiel released their debut studio album ''Serotonin II''. On the process of creating the album they said that "Writing the record, I was dreadful. I didn't ask for much, I don't need to be happy. I just wanted to be content." The album received a positive critical reception with Jude Noel of ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, a ...

'' giving the album 4/5 and saying that "Melancholia aside, it's Serotonin II's impeccable sound design that has kept me coming back". Ćmiel teased the release of their second album '' Glitch Princess'' via Bayonet Records with a track titled "My Name is Nat Ćmiel"—released at the end of 2020. The full album was released on February 4, 2022. It was qualified as "pioneering" by Colin Lodewick from '' Pitchfork'' and featured in their 'Best New Music' section with a critical score of 8.3. In between "My Name Is Nat Ćmiel" and ''Glitch Princess'', Ćmiel released the remix EP ''Serotonin X Remixes'' and the covers album ''Nuclear War Post X'', the latter issued directly through their website as a limited edition paperback art book with a download for the entire album.

Personal life

Ćmiel graduated from Central Saint Martins in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for a degree in Fine Arts in 2020. They are non-binary.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Serotonin II'' (2019) * '' Glitch Princess'' (2022)

Soundtrack

*''Lost Memories Dot Net'' (2017)

Extended play

*''Yeule'' (2014) *''Pathos'' (2016) *''Coma'' (2017) *''Serotonin X Remixes'' (2021)

Singles

* "Pocky Boy" (2019) * "Pretty Bones" (2019) * "Pixel Affection" (2019) * "Poison Arrow" (2019) * "My Name Is Nat Ćmiel" (2020) * "The Things They Did for Me Out of Love" (2021) * "Don't Be So Hard on Your Own Beauty" (2021) * "Friendly Machine" (2021) * "Too Dead Inside" (2022)

Collaborations

*Akuma des Akum – "Urbangarde" (yeule Remix) (2021) *

Car Seat Headrest Car Seat Headrest (CSH) is an American indie rock band formed in Leesburg, Virginia, and currently located in Seattle, Washington. The band consists of Will Toledo (vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizers), Ethan Ives (guitar, bass, backing vocals) ...

– "Deadlines" (yeule Remix) (2021) *Tohji ft. yeule - “shell” (2022)

References

{{reflist Living people People from Singapore Ambient musicians Musicians from London Singaporean musicians Synth-pop musicians 1997 births Non-binary musicians Singaporean LGBT people LGBT singers