YUNINI, Owner of a Dreamy Voice Resembling Norah Jones

In the winter of 2017, YUNINI (Choi Yoon-hee) debuted with her first single '9%' and quietly established herself in the indie music scene. She began attracting attention after winning the gold prize and lyricist award at the 26th Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest, showcasing a musical spectrum that freely traverses rock, folk, and R&B based on pop. Her husky yet soft tone reminiscent of Norah Jones leaves an unforgettable impression once heard

YUNINI's Story

In the winter of 2017, YUNINI (Choi Yoon-hee) debuted with her first single '9%' and quietly established herself in the indie music scene. She began attracting attention after winning the gold prize and lyricist award at the 26th Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest, showcasing a musical spectrum that freely traverses rock, folk, and R&B based on pop. Her husky yet soft tone reminiscent of Norah Jones leaves an unforgettable and striking impression once heard.

A Musical Journey Crossing Genres

It's difficult to define YUNINI's music in one word. Her vocals seem like a meeting between Norah Jones's dreamy texture and Park Hyo-shin's delicate emotional expression. A graduate of Howon University's Applied Music Department, she is finding her own color based on a solid theoretical background.

A characteristic of her music is honestly capturing emotions from daily life such as love, separation, and childhood memories. Having accumulated diverse musical experiences as a member of duo Cute Words and former member of HIHIBI, she is currently establishing herself as an independent artist

YUNINI's Music

Meet YUNINI at Nonol

Meet their music live at the Singing Playground.

🎵 "Originals — Stories Written by Her Own Hand"

If you want to know YUNINI's true colors, you must listen to her original songs first. From 'Her and Me' where 310,000 people stopped to listen, to 'Let's Go' which captured the hearts of 270,000 people, each of her original songs contains different stories.

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'Her and Me' — The Chemistry of Falling in Love

What to note in this song's intro is YUNINI's vocal entry over simple guitar arpeggios. Her vocalization entering with minimal vibration and accurate pitch from the first note creates an intimacy like reading a diary aloud. Originally a 4/4 pop ballad structure, the bridge section transitions to 3/4 time, reminiscent of lovers dancing a waltz.

This song expressing the shining moment of falling in love also stands out for its specific sensory descriptions in the lyrics. The poetic imagination shown in lines like "Lock away the stars in a box for now / Shine the sun on me" adds literary depth beyond a simple love confession.

'Something About You' — Discovering Love in Daily Life

In the winter of 2022, YUNINI released 'Something About You', a story about becoming accustomed to a lover's habits together. Her vocal style in this song shows a clear difference from previous works. Over the fresh pop sound, her voice transformed to a more cheerful and bright tone. Particularly, the transition to falsetto in the chorus reminds one of Billie Eilish's whispering vocal technique.

In the arrangement, bassist Kim Tae-hwi and guitarist Kim Jun-hyung participated to complete a full band sound, but the structure led by YUNINI's vocals still maintains an intimate feeling. The fact that 220,000 people stopped before this stage proves that her musical change was successfully accepted.

'Yellow' — A Healing Message Expressed Through Color

From the moment the first note sounds, it feels like going on a picnic under warm sunlight. 'Yellow' is a song containing YUNINI's hope of living in the world while healing wounds through love. Her vocals in this song became more relaxed than in previous works. Her diction, taking deep breaths while clearly pronouncing each syllable, gives the feeling of a storyteller slowly telling a fairy tale.

Structurally, it's a simple form repeating intro-verse-chorus, but in the bridge where she cries "You're my moon and also my sun," the vocal range suddenly rises to create an emotional climax. This creates a similar effect to the emotional contrast technique shown in IU's 'Through the Night'.

250,000 people lingered in the warmth of this song. The expression "yellow world" appearing in the lyrics works as a symbol of hope and healing beyond simple color description.

'Let's Go' — Comfort for a Loved One

The comment "A song that's always so good no matter when you listen" by @Ahn Su-kyung Music Research Lab aptly shows this song's charm. 'Let's Go' is one of the works where YUNINI's vocals feel the warmest, containing the desire to comfort a loved one and protect love until the end.

Her voice in this song has a texture like warm cocoa on a winter day. Particularly, the stable low notes when singing "Don't worry, let's go to that place where only we two stay" become true comfort that soothes anxious hearts. Technically, she mainly uses chest voice while naturally transitioning to head voice in emotionally heightened parts, which is impressive.

270,000 people responded to this message of comfort. The arrangement uses only minimal acoustic guitar and occasional string melodies to create spatial depth, making YUNINI's voice stand out more.

Original Songs in Short Form

As another version of 'Let's Go', this video edited into a more concise and concentrated form delivers the message "Don't worry, let's go to that place where only we two stay" more directly. In just about a minute, YUNINI perfectly shows her unique sound color.

The short form version of 'Her and Me' expresses the excitement of falling in love more compressively. Like the video title suggesting the feeling of traveling through an endless night sky, YUNINI's voice leads listeners on a dreamy emotional journey.

In the short form of 'Yellow', the core message "You're my moon and also my sun" comes across more intensely. YUNINI's hopeful perspective on a world colored yellow is delivered with short but strong impact.

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🎵 "Covers & Remakes — Interpretive Skills Shining in Others' Songs"

They say you can know a team's true skill by listening to their covers. YUNINI's Norah Jones cover is a perfect example proving that saying.

'Don't Know Why' — A Norah Jones Homage

YUNINI reinterpreted the jazz standard sophistication that Norah Jones created in the original in a more intimate way. The arrangement that transformed the original's piano trio formation into a minimal sound centered on acoustic guitar first catches the eye. This brings YUNINI's vocals more to the forefront, doubling the song's lyricism.

In terms of vocal technique, YUNINI shows a different approach from Norah Jones's cool jazz vocals. While Norah Jones expressed emotions restrainedly and coolly, YUNINI digests the song with a warmer and more personal feeling. Particularly, the delicate emotional expression when singing "I don't know why I didn't come" creates a different charm from the original.

240,000 people lingered in this emotional interpretation. This was evidence that it was a recreation work with YUNINI's own color added, beyond a simple cover.

The short form version of 'Don't Know Why' extracts only the core melody of the original to provide a more concentrated listening experience. This version reinterpreting Norah Jones's masterpiece in YUNINI's way is like a sample that succinctly shows her cover skills.

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🎵 "Special — Full Versions, MVs, and Special Stages"

Meet another charm of YUNINI through live full versions and special videos.

YUNINI Full Ver. — The Complete Stage Experience

This full version live conducted at Yongin Mangol Neighborhood Park is a stage that most perfectly shows YUNINI's musical world. You can listen to representative songs like 'Her and Me', 'Yellow', 'Don't Know Why', and 'Let's Go' consecutively, allowing you to grasp her musical spectrum at once.

Particularly, the acoustic stage unfolding under natural light further highlights the naturalness and authenticity of YUNINI's music. Her honest and warm personality is revealed even in simple comments between songs, which becomes an element that increases trust in her music.

AI Music Video — 'Something About You'

The AI music video motived by Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film 'Amélie' added a new visual dimension to YUNINI's 'Something About You'. The emotional images reminiscent of Paris's Montmartre Hill meet YUNINI's voice, creating a feeling like watching a scene from a French indie film.

YUNINI's music flowing in the video perfectly matches Amélie's pure and dreamy character. This shows that her music has the power to transcend culture and language with its universal emotions. Over 10,000 people appreciated this special collaboration.

Records of Debut Songs

'Love Affair' is a song from YUNINI's 2023 album 'Birthday', a work showing her musical maturity. This song completed through collaboration with Ha Ji-woong proves that YUNINI's composition skills and production sense have developed to another level.

'Here, Here, Here' is a monumental work with which YUNINI won the gold prize and lyricist award at the 26th Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest. In that her musical journey began in earnest with this song, it becomes an important clue to understanding YUNINI.

What Fans Say About YUNINI

Learn More About YUNINI

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YUNINI's music doesn't compete with flashy techniques or grand messages. Instead, she honestly captures small emotions from daily life, quietly settling in a corner of listeners' hearts. Her voice resembling Norah Jones sometimes becomes warm comfort and sometimes becomes a message of hope.

YUNINI's musical journey that can be met through 13 Nonol videos is only the beginning. If you're curious about her next story, meet her first at the Singing Playground.