YANDANI Releases Debut Pop and R&B EP About You

The release marks the first extended body of work from the 20-year-old artist, who has built an online following of more than one million on TikTok through cover performances and original content.

Recorded over a two-year period in London, Durban and Cape Town, the EP was produced in collaboration with Stephen Barnes and Sacha Skarbek. According to the artist, the project reflects his growth as a songwriter while drawing on personal experiences and observations of young relationships.

“I’d describe the sound as the perfect mix of R&B and Pop,” Yandani said. “I wanted the music to feel emotional and relatable, but still uplifting. Even when the songs deal with difficult situations, there's always a feeling of confidence underneath everything.”

Rather than following a single storyline, About You presents a series of songs exploring different emotional stages of young love, including infatuation, uncertainty, heartbreak, healing and self-worth.

“The project is really about young love and all the emotions that come with it,” Yandani said. “Relationships, situationships, heartbreak, confidence and everything in between inspired these songs. I wanted each track to capture a different feeling that people can relate to.”

He said he hopes listeners will identify with the emotions reflected in the songs.

“I hope people hear something they recognise in themselves. Whether they’re in love, heartbroken or just trying to find confidence again, I want the music to remind them that it's okay to feel everything and still know your worth.”

Yandani said the songwriting process was guided largely by instinct, with each composition developing from melodies and production ideas.

“My songwriting process always started with hearing a beat. Stephen Barnes, Sacha Skarbek and I would start building melodies together and then I’d follow wherever the music was taking me emotionally. What I wrote about always depended on how the beat made me feel.”

The EP’s lead single and title track, ‘About You’, centres on devotion and the vulnerability of falling in love. According to Yandani, the song was written for listeners who want to express their feelings to their partners.

The six-track project comprises ‘About You’, ‘Touch’, ‘Undecided’, ‘Forget’, ‘Room 212’ and ‘Honeydew’.