yOya’s “I Don’t Wanna Fight” Is About a Certain Kind of Conflict (premiere)

yOya is the songwriting project of longtime friends Alex Pfender and Noah Dietterich, natives of Corvallis, Oregon who’ve known each other since the dimming days of elementary school. With a friendship forged by a mutual appreciation for Paul Simon’s Graceland, the pair eventually moved to Los Angeles to focus on songs that marry uplifting acoustic passages and sweeping choruses with contemporary electronic-based passages.

The outfit’s new single, “I Don’t Wanna Fight”, is culled from the upcoming LP The Half Turn. Not only is the record the debut of drummer Ian Meltzer, it’s an expansion into a broader range of sounds and moods, as evidenced by this somber and infectious tune.

Pfender says that “I Don’t Wanna Fight” is “about a certain kind of fight that you can feel coming a long ways off but can’t seem to outrun. Negotiations break down, the parties back into their corners and it’s happening again. But the song cries out for piece, hands up in surrender.” Return to the inevitable question: “Did I do enough”, the song examines how sometimes negative emotions can be birthed from the simple desire to keep the peace.

The band’s upcoming effort The Half Turn may be ordered here.