She acknowledges it did take her off the usual path, trying something new and the reaction from her friends and fans did not deter her.
“A lot of people were like, ‘Are you sure you are going to do an R&B, urban album?’.
“I was just trying to be myself. More importantly, I’m trying to create music that I like and something my friends will appreciate as well,” the 29-year-old told the Straits Times in a recent interview.
“Chapters”, is her third studio album and was released by Verve Records on May 20 in the US. It was always meant to be different from her past indie-pop, acoustic works, she adds.
“For this album, I wanted to take another route. I was so used to playing the guitar and ukulele and, after a while, you get tired of that.
“It’s not that it’s something that I don’t enjoy anymore, but I wanted to try something new, and for this album, I got the opportunity to explore the world of R&B and hip-hop and DJs.
“I was intrigued with that world and I wanted to try and add a Yuna touch to that,” she said, according to the Singapore daily.
Her efforts have already brought great rewards with her single, a duet with Usher called “Crush”, fast becoming one of her most popular songs.
“Crush” currently sits at No 13 in Billboard’s Adult R&B Songs chart, and is still climbing. Even the music video on YouTube has clocked more than four million views.
Aside from Usher, the album also features collaborations with Jhene Aiko and DJ Premier.
A new person
The Alor Setar-born singer will turn 30 on Nov 14 and is relishing the new decade she is about to enter in her life.
“I want to embrace it, as a new person. I don’t want to hold back, in the way I write, the way I sing, the way I see things,” Yuna said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle last month.
She added that what she had learnt, how she had grown and all the experiences, good and bad, went into the making of her new album “Chapters”.
“I learned so much from the things I’m proud of and the things I regret, my mistakes. I felt it would be good to collect all of this and just put it into something positive.”
“Chapters” is her second to be released by Verve Records, the iconic jazz record company which has hit-maker David Foster as its chairman. Foster is also executive producer for the album.
On her first single, “Crush”, Yuna admits to having started writing it as a solo tune, before realising that collaborating with a male singer for a duet would give the song a boost.
“Usher came to mind because I met him about a year before I wrote the song and we were just talking about music in general,” she was quoted as saying by Straits Time.
According to her, there was no intention to make music together with Usher based on that first meeting, but once the song was written, she approached him and was happy to get a positive response.
Hijab poster girl
Yuna, whose full name is Yunalis Mat Zara’ai, is also revelling in the attention she is receiving on American radio with her latest single.
That interest, however, is not just for her songs, but also for her image.
To the many reports in the US calling her a poster girl for hipsters who wear the hijab, she says it was not something she had planned.
“They highlight the fact that I’m Muslim, and I am not afraid to say it too. I know many artistes don’t admit to it.
“However, as a musician, it doesn’t matter what faith you believe in.
“My religion is a private matter and I don’t discuss it, but because I practice it with my image, it starts a conversation and I respect that,” she told the Chronicle.
Yuna, who is single, is one of the very few Malaysian artists who have had success in the international music industry, but that does not put her under any pressure, she said.
“I don’t like to give in to pressure. Whatever I’m doing right now is something that’s never been done before by any Malaysian, but I feel that there are no shoes to fill but mine, I’m walking in my own shoes.
“I’m just trying to constantly do better and be a better artist.”