YĪN YĪN, an international psych-rock band, has reached new heights with their third album, Mount Matsu. Deeply inspired by the imaginative sound waves of the cosmos and Japan’s rich musical culture, Mount Matsu reflects a chaotic blend of influences that slowly coalesce. Influential, strangely harmonious, and full of energy, this record marks the band’s first truly democratic project, born from collaboration among four musician friends. Mount Matsu is sure to feature prominently on year-end lists for anyone drawn to warm, textured psychedelic disco, fat global funk, electronic soundscapes, and tribal experimentation.

Originally from Maastricht, the southernmost city in the Netherlands, YĪN YĪN burst onto the scene in 2019 with The Rabbit that Hunts Tigers, an album inspired by Thai psych rock, followed by the more spiritual and cosmic The Age of Aquarius in 2022. Mount Matsu finds the band—now living and recording in a house and studio in the nearby Belgian countryside—somewhere between their first two albums, with their sound gradually shifting toward the Land of the Rising Sun: Japan. Sticking to pentatonic scales, the largely instrumental album weaves a sound that leaps effortlessly between notes. Crafted with a unique set of instruments, including vintage synthesizers and the traditional Chinese guzheng, Mount Matsu offers melodies that are both captivating and transport listeners to uncharted Eastern landscapes.