Yulan & Blaise – Quench: Dreamy Art Pop with Heartbeat Rhythms

Quench opens with an ethereal wash of sound and gentle vocals that glide across layered textures. The production combines shimmering electronics with organic details — including the subtle pulse of Yulan’s heartbeat, used as a kick drum. Its dreamy atmosphere recalls St Etienne’s lighter moments, balancing sweetness with an undercurrent of melancholy. The groove unfolds slowly, and the arrangement draws you in with its off-kilter, hypnotic charm.

The third single from the duo’s upcoming debut EP, Quench merges art pop, bossa nova, and downtempo influences. It explores “cycles of addiction or attachment that loop back on themselves like a recurring dream — tender and suffocating, like cotton candy brain fog.”

Intricately arranged, the track features Omnichord, toy piano, shakuhachi, mezzo soprano sax, and contrabass sax, all woven around Yulan’s delicate vocal. The accompanying video places the pair inside a pink-hued reconstruction of a bedroom from Trainspotting (1996), blending the pastel opulence of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette with the unease of Danny Boyle’s film — a striking visual parallel to the song’s duality of allure and tension.

Australian-American duo Yulan & Blaise (Yulan Jack 杰克玉兰 and Blaise Garza of Violent Femmes) have been praised by Far Out Magazine for their “angelic vocals and gothic, angsty art edge.” Their music merges experimental electronics, cinematic sound design, and rich emotional storytelling. The two met while performing at MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in nipaluna/Hobart, and their forthcoming EP reimagines fragments of their relationship within surreal, nostalgic worlds.