New Audio: Taiwan’s Yufu Shares Euphoric “Side Effects May Include”

Yufu, “The Soulful Gent” is a Taiwanese soul musician, singer/songwriter and producer, whose deep connection to old-school/vintage soul began in childhood and has evolved into a lifelong study of Black American music and the records that have shaped it. As a self-described perpetual student to Black music, he doesn’t attempt to simply reproduced the beloved old-school sound, he approaches the tradition with respect and curiosity, studying everything from songwriting to arrangements, to recording techniques, instruments and the physical character of the classic studios and their equipment.

That philosophy is central to his work. He embraces tape saturation, microphone bleed, room sound, the imperfect timing and the energy created when musicians play in the same room together. His work is also rooted in a deep desire to keep soul music alive as a living, evolving language while building connections between musicians, DJs and listeners across his native Taiwan, Japan, the UK and the wider global soul community.

Drawing from soul, blues. funk, Northern and Latin soul, the Taiwanese artist’s work blends the warmth and imperfections of classic soul recordings with his own contemporary perspective. His full-length debut, last year’s Heal Me Good was released by Dutch label Zip Records to international press attention and radio airplay including Spotify programming and BBC Radio 6 Music — and the album won Best R&B Album at Taiwan’s Golden Indie Music Awards.

“Side Effects May Include” is the Taiwanese artist’s first bit of new material since last year’s Heal Me Good. Sonically, the new single is a euphoric dance floor friendly blend of Northern soul, classic Motown soul and contemporaries like Daptone Records, Big Crown Records and Colemine Records featuring an arrangement of horns, strings, shuffling guitar, Latin percussion, Hammond organ and a big, dynamic drum break beneath Yufu’s remarkably Tom Jones-like vocal.

Thematically exploring the sweet and often irrational symptoms of being hopelessly in love “Side Effects May Include” treats falling in love, much like a potent drug, complete with a series of side effects. In this case, missing that special someone, dancing and singing for no apparent reason and behaving completely out of character. But it’s not from a cynical viewpoint — the song approaches it from a sweet, joyous, deeply human and deeply universal thing. Love can make you act like a dopesick moron, and that’s perfectly normal.

Yufu imagined “Side Effects May Include” being performed inside a soul club in the early 1970s, shaping the production around the feeling of being physically present in that room. And as a result, the recording favors warmth, movement and imperfection over modern polish. The song also represents an ending and a beginning for the Taiwanese artist: It closes the musical world of Heal Me Good while opening a door to whatever coming next.

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