UNA "Dandelions" [Single] (Cool Jewel)
Add Date: 4/18/2023
Release Date:4/18/2023
FCC: Clean
Formats: Non-Comm AAA, NACC Top 200, Chill, Electronic
RIYL: Banks, Agnes Obel, Little Dragon, Chet Faker, Sylvan Esso and Zero 7.
Downtempo Electronic collective UNA formed around 2007 when producer Richard Larsen recorded a demo with Jennifer Nice. After hearing her Latin soul vibe they started working on an EP The Rain is Over and Gone and called themselves UNA. Soon DJ Eddie Barajas joined them and a full length LP, entitled “one" was released. Several songs were favored by influential radio station KCRW (home of Morning Becomes Eclectic) and swept the LP to the top position, debuting at #1 in the US for unsigned bands (Mediaguide).
Releasing 7 records since, the Independent Music Awards nominated UNA’s Last Time I Saw You for Top Song in 2018, and then in 2019 nominated Hiss for the Fly Top 5 Album of the Year. Nearly every UNA release hit Top 10’s across the country. Now, UNA looks forward to part three of their fly trilogy with The Look in Their Eyes starting off with their pandemic-inspired, sneak peak, soulful single Time Zone.
Using mostly downtempo jazz inspired grooves and Wurli electric piano, UNA proceeds to deliver profound pop, lending their vibe to what was called electronica but would otherwise be described as a new form. Guest musicians on past releases include Shawn Davis, Scott Eric Olivier, Don Ferrone, Cari Craig and Lars Horntveth among others. UNA tracks have been remixed by the likes of Charles Webster, Nightmares on Wax, Mystery Skulls, Kenneth Pattengale, Pépé Bradock, and John Tejada to name a few.
Their most recent work has been mentioned as a mixture of Dream-Pop, Indietronica, and Alternative R&B, but catching up with these music tags is bewildering. While not re-hashing those ideas, yet remaining openly positive and spirited, UNA is moving into new territory with musical references to many styles.
Their sound is distinctive and identifiable.
We just call it UNA.
Thoughts on Dandelions
What is Spring? A new beginning? An emergence? With UNA’s latest single Dandelions, we explore life’s winds. Dandelion seeds so perfectly represent what we think of new seasons. Vulnerable yet extensive, delicate but enduring. While a small wind can blow the feathery seeds into the air leaving an empty stem, what is left is infinite possibility. Could this be the very thing we need right now? While we can sometimes feel as though we are left depleted by the winds of life, these winds can sometimes be exactly what we need for life to take a forward motion, for love to multiply, for peace to find its way into our earth. The dandelion is considered a weed to some but to us, it is a plant of hope. So let’s plant hope. Dandelions.
From UNA’s forthcoming album The Look in Their Eyes.