The #1 Destination For Indie Music Lovers

She calls herself amateur musician and a professional fuck up, but like many of us, YNES seems to be her own worst critic. There is nothing amateurish about this British-Canadian vocalist and visual artist. If anything, she combines best of both worlds to create a rather exciting mixture of musical styles and eye catching branding.

In case you haven’t been introduced yet. Born in Coventry, Kira Inezz Riess explored the Birmingham scene in her teenage years only to move half the world away to work (professionally) as a (successful) barista. It was Canada that laid the foundations for her music career and gave her the idea for an unusual image. YNES mixes modern outlooks with retro clothing to create quirky and colourful outfits. She seems to move with equal ease between genres – taking inspiration from the North American noise pop scene, British glam and punk to J-pop and bubblegum pop. She is her own manager, creative director and videographer: she records, produces, makes photo shoots, designs covers and maintains her own social media presence. To date she has released a string of singles and a debut EP ‘Sit Down, Grow Up’ in December 2020.

“No one can ever turn around to me and say ‘you’re only here because of me’. And that’s wild as fuck” – she observed last year in an interview with BabMag. The wit and strong sense of observation are evident not only when YNES speaks to journalists. Every song, every lyrics is built on the same principle: to tell stories, protest and laugh at the absurdities of life, but with humour and two feet firmly on the ground.

YNES is straightforward, intimate, occasionally rude but never arrogant or putting herself above anyone else. This alone wins her a new fan in yours truly who is sick and tired of all the prima donnas on the indie circuit. You want drama – sorry, go and watch Eastenders. Or listen to some self proclaimed saviours of punk rock or another. YNES is here to throw a wild, colourful party, share tips on life and its glorious failures and make music that will move you.

I`ve been listening to ‘Better Job’ on a loop for a good few hours and haven’t tired of it. It`s chaotic, half-sung half-shouted with a radio friendly chorus in the middle. You can take this song with you when you jog, to a demonstration and have it as a soundtrack to a pillow fight with your friends.

YNES takes inspiration from the likes of Kate Nash, Lily Allen, Shampoo and Mary Timony. She is here to kick ass and have a good time. And you know what? There is a good chance she will manage to have a long and fulfilling career in the creative industries.

You can follow (not stalk!) YNES on the following socials:

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