Arthur & Yu

Arthur & Yu - In Camera

So much is owed to the Velvet Underground. In this instance, Arthur & Yu, a boy-girl duo, re-produce the hazy dream pop effort of VU’s “Sunday Morning” across ten tracks. With vocals washed in reverb, as if you’re hearing them by way of a glass positioned to the wall, their sonic arrangement lick the softer side of folk-tinged psychedelia. The weaving of their voices - the hearty, anchoring masculine and wispy, dainty feminine - recalls the efforts of Serge Gainsbourg and Bridgette Bardot, or stateside, Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, where the interaction hinted at more than the lipped lyrics. However, the sexiness of Arthur (Grant Olsen) & Yu (Sonya Westcott) is limited to mostly charm though the reckless hearts in “Lion’s Mouth” do become flirtatiously naughty: "My fingers in your buttons/are like/ kissing cousins/making fabrics come undone." Signed to Sub Pop’s Jonathan Poneman new Hardly Art label, Arthur & Yu have released a gem of a debut.