Montreal artist and songwriter Jonah Yano’s latest single, “Someone Asked Me How I’ve Been,” offers a glimpse into the intricate sonic landscape of his forthcoming album, *Jonah Yano and The Heavy Loop*. This track distills the expansive, improvisational spirit of his 30-minute opus “The Heavy Loop” into a focused, intimate composition. Opening with Yano’s delicate guitar work, the song gradually expands as his band joins in, creating a lush, evolving soundscape that mirrors the emotional depth of the lyrics.
At the heart of “Someone Asked Me How I’ve Been” lies a poignant exploration of duality—the confusion of embodying two identities at once. This theme is drawn from Yano’s experiences during his first tour in Japan, where he confronted the complexities of being a mixed Japanese person in his ancestral homeland. The song captures the loneliness and aimlessness he felt at a time when he had envisioned living out a dream of sharing his music in the place he’s from, only to find himself wrestling with the dissonance between expectation and reality.
The track also stands as a testament to the collaborative spirit Yano cultivated while creating this album. He has crafted an environment that encourages improvisation and the melding of collective visions, transforming his live ensemble into a cohesive band. While Yano remains the central figure, he draws on the unique strengths and inspirations of his bandmates—Christopher Edmonson, Benjamin Maclean, Leighton Harrell, Felix Fox-Pappas, and Raiden Louis—to create an album that evolves with the musicians’ shared contributions.
Jonah Yano is a soulful, genre-defying artist who consistently reshapes the musical terrain beneath his feet. His approach is deeply influenced by his experiences as part of the Japanese-Canadian diaspora and his fascination with memory, family history, and the intricacies of human relationships. The result is a body of work that resists easy categorization, offering listeners a rich, complex soundscape that captures life’s most meaningful and ambiguous moments. Backed by a talented band—composed of Raiden Louie on drums, Chris Edmondson on saxophone, clarinet, and synthesizer, Benja on guitar, Leighton Harrell on bass, and Felix Fox-Pappas on piano and Rhodes—Yano continues to push the boundaries of his sound, building on the collaborative success of their 2023 single “concentrate” with Clairo.