Imagine for a moment the best leftfield dance music festival out there. Across the various stages there would be space for the lush dancefloor orchestration of techno and drum’n’bass and the rhythmical textures of house music’s thrilling groove. Elsewhere, the emotive grit and candour of soul music would feed into the experimentation offered by futuristic jazz and electronica and the beguiling respite of head music – from ambient to dubstep – would offer contemplative reflection.
This harmonious meeting of the electronic clans would, in fact, sound something like Sheffield multi-instrumentalist and musical artist Yarni. Across four albums and countless EPs and in less than a decade of producing, Yarni has covered more musical terrain than other equally open-minded artists do in an entire career.
“I just like the idea of cherry picking,” explains the affable Yarni. “I’ll think, ‘I like this drum sound from Steely Dan and I like techno’… It doesn’t always work and people don’t always get it, but that’s the fun for me. I don’t want to pigeonhole myself; I think it’s a matter of convincing people to join me on the journey and to expect that the next thing is not going to be what you expect.” This sonic wanderlust is not only intrinsic to the mesmerising musical journey Yarni has been on since releasing his debut album, Entkommen, in 2017, it also helps explain how Yarni sees himself.
“I’m neither a DJ/producer nor a straight-up musician,” he says. “I’ve always seen myself, or aspired to be in any case, an artist. I’ve always admired the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Floating Points, Four Tet… the way they’re positioned to us is as a full artist, rather than your DJ/producers. It’s the whole package: the visuals, the art, the way they present everything… that’s just as important to me as the music.”
Entkommen – escape in German – was informed by the death of his beloved nan. Its eclectic nature was recognised by such luminous kindred spirits as Andrew Weatherall and DJ Harvey.
“It was an escape from the pain,” he recalls today. “It was an outlet to turn a negative time into something positive. A diary that documents that time. I listen back to it and I can hear and feel the emotion in it. For me it’s a great way to get it out into the public. It might be strange, but it keeps me going. It’s my oxygen.”
This musical travelogue was even more apparent in 2021’s Boro album, which was inspired by an eye-opening trip to Japan and Wes Anderson’s animated comedy Isle of Dogs, replete with its Oriental-influenced score. Boro’s atmospheric late-night soundtrack, which veers between gripping orchestral and beat-driven moments, sounds like DJ Shadow collaborating with Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Pigna followed the next year. This time Yarni took on the role of bandleader as he guided a nine-piece ensemble on a musical journey around the edges of psychedelic jazz, deep house and ambient-flavoured afrobeat. The release saw him pick up more fans. Luke Una being a notable champion. The instructive title was again instigated by a trip overseas, this time a bit closer to home – Sicily. While there, Yarni, a true bon viveur (just check out his illuminating Instagram account for a raft of cultural tips and insights) went on a street-food walking tour and he noticed numerous pine cones on people’s door steps. He was told that an open pine cone is a welcoming symbol of sincerity and inclusivity.
“Opening arms to new people,” he reflects. “That struck with me. The album was me opening my arms out to all these musicians to come and be involved.” Such an explanation is central to all Yarni does. He is the perpetual outsider, happy to experiment at the fringes – where all the best music seems to reside. In 2023, his restless and curious spirit took him to a new musical outpost: the melodic side of electronica, apt given his Sheffield heritage. His collaboration with Give Me Monaco resulted in the terrific Parenthesis longplayer, an album that deftly weaves between sparse and artful electronic soundscapes and the always refreshing anything-goes Balearic outlook.
The year ended with the Albers EP, this time an audio-visual alliance with the artist John Pedder, whose artwork Harris had fallen for in a Sheffield framer four years ago. Musically speaking, the sounds touch upon hip hop, dubstep’s skittery beats, Bukem-esque drum’n’bass and rave.
Along the way, Yarni has cultivated different iterations of his live show where electronic arrangements and live instrumentation come together in a spellbinding combination. He’s played a live session for 6 Music’s Deb Grant and been praised by tastemakers as varied as Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan and Colin Curtis.
It’s all grist to Yarni’s inventive mill. Relentlessly creative he’s just finished producing a fanzine. There was, he admits, no need to do it, other than the fact that he could – and wanted to.
“It’s putting something real into the world,” he concludes. “Real artefacts. We might be the last generation to grow up with real, tangible things. Creating anything physical – or digital – I just love creating. I’m passionate about it. I’m not a career person so music is my oxygen. I get up at 5am every day and it just keeps me going. I used the Factory Records blueprint. Everything they did, every fine detail they put into everything they did resonates with me so much.”
As for the future, expect him to remain resolutely on the outside looking in and – as per John Peel’s memorable description of The Fall – creating music that is always different, always the same.
Jim Butler - Disco Pogo
“Yarni’s style is dreamy and gently groovy. Particularly easy to love.”
“Amazing artist.”
“It’s very rare to get a record that manages to give you all of the
sensory delights, but this does.”
“A beautiful gift to the world”