W. Y. Huang : Alone Again
W. Y. Huang
Alone Again
With his deconstructed electronica traversing obtuse vocal manipulations, lute-adjacent synthetica and otherworldly strains of abstract beatwork, W. Y. Huang’s past work under his name presented a fractured vision of Asian futurism – a vision demonstrated plentifully on 2019’s Crossing The Great Water. But on Alone Again, a track dating back to his days just before his move to New York, his view turns from the otherworldly to the vulnerable internal. Here, his traces of his former cosmic experiments distill themselves into intimate synth-pop balladry – reflecting on regrets on former loves and faded connections, Huang finds homes for these thoughts upon a washed-out backdrop, as cavernous snares and plastic picking smear themselves upon gently pulsating synths.
“Just me and myself, and all the memories of being with you / Alone again, thinking about all the moments that we shared,” he ponders – weaving through a delicate guitar solo, it’s a tender and personal note. Bringing to his palette a fresh context, his voice finds itself painfully vulnerable – and for an artist whose sound has thrived in mangled juxtapositions and high-concept stylings, its naked, sombre clarity is ultimately a powerfully disarming one.
"Are you thinking of me? Thinking about all of my selfish ways?” he ponders with sombred clarity - and as French horns gently fade out Huang’s ode with a wistful, digital solace, the song’s light, melancholic aftertaste is a poignantly fitting one, for an artist now refined with his craft and a slate refreshed. Evaporating the busyness of his former aliases (e.g. Yllis) into ephemeral mist, it's an evocative ode that displays an artist finding his way through a new uncertain future – and perhaps a poetic signal for a new beginning.
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