once upon a time

Sophomore Album Pioneer is an Indie Pop Look at Those Who Break New Ground . . .

“There’s palpable chemistry between Yuri’s vocals and Dan’s instruments which suggests being husband and wife only aids their songwriting.” —Duncan Haskell, Songwriting Magazine (UK)

“Yuri’s alluring voice has just the right mix of sweetness, sass and come-hither character, and she and Dan back it up with catchy yet intricate musical arrangements.”
—Bill Kopp, Musoscribe

“Yuri's vocals are as spot on as ever, melodic, sweetness personified, she could sing the phone book. However, it's when that psych pop kicks in that the album is at its best. ”
—Don Valentine, I Don’t Hear A Single

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — The second release from My Little Hum, Pioneer, is a return to the band’s glittery pop sound featuring shimmering guitars, crunchy bubbling bass, catchy melodies and lush female vocal harmony.

The album's genesis occurred when Yuri was selected to join an urban design master’s program in New York City. This meant the husband-and-wife team would be living on separate coasts for a while. They used the time well; Yuri (vocals/keyboards) studied and wrote lyrics while sleeping on her sister’s couch in the Bronx, Dan (guitars/bass) sketched out guitar tracks in their Oakland home studio while feeding the cat. Yuri wrote lyrics touching on themes related to her new urban environs including the stunning “November in New York,” a slice of Gotham that she penciled on the roof of the Spitzer School of Architecture between her studio classes. She also found inspiration in other forms of daily life, like shuffling back and forth on the 1 subway train (“Subway Song”) and observing young students from all over the world break new ground in urban design and social change (“Terra Firma”).

Soon the music duo realized that these pioneering go-getter-types were everywhere: from the memories of the couple’s very own recently-departed but trend-setting fathers (“One of a Kind”, “Runway Lights”) to the industriousness of the worker bees that reside in the couple’s backyard hives (“Don’t Build It Alone”); even the band’s version of a 1980s hit by Christopher Cross plays into the desire to explore unknown places (“Sailing”).

The album Pioneer was written with the assistance of modern day satellites, as Dan and Yuri transmitted song ideas from the west coast to east coast then back again for more than a year. My Little Hum decided that this spirit should be relayed on the album’s final track by paying homage to the satellite known for capturing the first images of the moons of Jupiter (“Pioneer 10”). Dan tells the story through his signature atmospheric guitar playing and melodic bass lines, while Yuri chimes in with a mantra-like vocal that brings the album to a sonic close.


Contact the band: mylittlehum (at) gmail (dot) com

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