Must-Watch Music Videos: You Be The Fuel, yOya Will Be The Fire

[Editor’s Note: Two major trends have emerged in the recent history of new media: 1) Music videos are the new music and 2) YouTube is the new MTV. With that in mind and to keep you up to speed with the greatest and latest in this online video category, Tubefilter has partnered with INDMUSIC, YouTube’s largest independent music network, to bring you at least one must-watch music video every week. Turn up your volume and we hope you enjoy the analysis, sites, and sounds. For more Must-Watch Music Video installments, click here.]

I had a chance to check out yOya on tour earlier this month at the Echoplex in Los Angeles and remembered how much I loved what they do with their music videos. It’s been some time since they’ve released any new visuals, so I was excited to find an impressive new clip from Alex Pfender and Noah Dietterich, the virtuoso’s that make up yOya.

With the help of a drum machine, yOya rocks out to poppy folk tunes that’ll force you to bob your head, sway, and sing along (and if you don’t know the lyrics, you will by the end of the song).  Their latest is for I’ll Be the Fire, a swayful, upbeat ballad that serves as a perfect cross-section for what yOya does best: serve up catchy pop songs, while never afraid to rip a tasty solo.

The animation works so well in this video because the band uses the medium effectively to tell a story, as opposed to it being just a filter. The way each beat flows throughout the city and how their instruments are animated in singular hyperbolic lines lends nuance to the visuals and creates a better sense of space throughout the video.

The LA duo and longtime friends studied music together at USC and have a history of blending their playful falsetto harmonies with clever visuals and animation. A perfect example of this is in my other favorite yOya video Come Alive, which is a spot on example of an effective lyric video and additionally boasts impressive visuals.

You can find I’ll be the Fire on yOya’s new EP Go North out now on New Professor Records.

Arshan Sadri is the Channel Manager at Brooklyn based, INDMUSIC, YouTube’s largest music Network. He got his start booking comedy and music at the University of Maryland. On weekends he refuses to travel above 14th street, likes to run, and plays in two bands that are just ok.

INDMUSIC is YouTube’s Largest Music Network, allowing independent music content creators to monetize their YouTube views without sacrificing creative control or rights to their content.