Bahasa Music in the City - Decorate by YUNA

I wish I understood Bahasa. For the past weeks, I've been enjoying listening to YUNA's cd album called Decorate on my iPhone. Yuna is a Malaysian singer-song writer who sings in English and Bahasa. Her album Decorate is a delightful collection of acoustic Indie folk music.



It was at Speedy, a music store inside the KL Pavillon in Kuala Lumpur, where a very helpful sales associate helped me find the type of music I was looking for. I asked for some guitars but not a lot of it, kind of folk, some pop and it does not matter if it is a male or female artist, and definitely in Bahasa.  Judging from his expression, it was probably the first time he ever heard such a request from a tourist. Worse, he probably never encountered such a tourist. Though I can tell he was more than eager to show me what Malaysian music is all about after realizing I am there for real. Tada! He came back with a cd of Yuna and he even let me listen to a couple of tracks. I could see he was so pleased with himself when I approved of his choice.


I wish you could listen to her music because the entire album is pretty good. I guess you could listen to a few of her songs in Amazon, though Amazon does not carry her songs in Bahasa.  She reminds me of Coldplay, Fleming and John, The Cardigans and Frente combined.


The standout tracks for me are: Cinta Sempurna, Permission, Gadis Semasa, Penakut, Decorate and Dan Sebenarnya. Though my trip to KL in December was short, these songs take me back to the streets of Kuala Lumpur every time I listen to them.


~rl