Yukimi Nagano

Yukimi Eleanora Nagano (born 31 January 1982) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is the vocalist for the Swedish electronic group Little Dragon.

Yukimi Nagano
Yukimi Nagano performing with Little Dragon at Parklife festival in Sydney, October 2011
Background information
Birth nameYukimi Eleanora Nagano
Born (1982-01-31) 31 January 1982
Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • percussion
  • drums
Years active1996–present
Associated acts
Websitewww.little-dragon.net

Career

Early career

Nagano first made a record at the age of 18 with Andreas Saag (Swell Session). She then worked with Swedish nu jazz duo Koop on the songs "Summer Sun" and "Bright Nights" (both from 2001's Waltz for Koop) and joined the duo on tour, which she says "opened a lot of doors for me both life and collaboration wise".[1] She collaborated with Koop again on "Come to Me", "I See a Different You", and "Whenever There Is You" for the 2006 release Koop Islands.[2] Nagano also contributed significant vocal work to the 2004 album Moving On by Hird, including the song "Keep You Kimi" and the title track "Moving On".[3]

Little Dragon
Main article: Little Dragon

Nagano is the vocalist of Gothenburg-based electronic band Little Dragon, which she established with her close high school friends Erik Bodin (drums) and Fredrik Wallin (bass) in 1996 while they were in high school. Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards) joined the group later.[4] Nagano and her bandmates each applied to music college but were denied entrance, and instead continued to make music together while working side jobs.[5] In 2007, Little Dragon released their first single, "Twice", which led to the group being signed to the record label Peacefrog Records.[4] The band released their self-titled debut album on September 3, 2007, to favorable reception.[6] This was followed by Machine Dreams in 2009.[7]

Little Dragon was featured in Gorillaz's 2010 album Plastic Beach on the songs "Empire Ants" and "To Binge", both of which Nagano co-wrote, and she performed in the "Escape to Plastic Beach Tour" the same year.[4][8]

Little Dragon's third studio album, Ritual Union, was released in July 2011 and the band went on tour in North America, Europe, and Australia.[9] The band's fourth studio album, Nabuma Rubberband, was released in May 2014 in the United Kingdom via Because Music and in the United States via Loma Vista Recordings.[10] It received a nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.[11] The album was supported by tours in Europe and North America.[12][13]

In 2015, Nagano was featured, along with Little Dragon, on electronic music duo ODESZA's 2015 single "Light".[14] Also in 2015, Nagano and Little Dragon were featured on Mac Miller's GO:OD AM album on the last track titled "The Festival." [15]

In 2016, Little Dragon collaborated with De La Soul on the track "Drawn" and a music video for the song was released in 2017.[16][17] Season High, Little Dragon's fifth studio album, was also released in 2017.[18]

Other Work

She and Erik Bodin have played live with fellow Gothenburg artist, José González.[1]

In 2011, Nagano was featured on SBTRKT's eponymous debut album with her vocals on the song "Wildfire".[19] She is also featured on Raphael Saadiq's 2011 album Stone Rollin' on the song "Just Don't".[20]

She also provided vocals for "Scale It Back" on DJ Shadow's 2011 album The Less You Know, the Better and for "Descending", "Higher Res", and "Thom Pettie" from Big Boi's 2012 album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors.[21][22] Nagano additionally co-wrote "Mama Told Me" and sang on the song's original version.[23]

Personal life

Nagano was born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, to Japanese father Yusuke Nagano and Swedish-American mother Joanne Brown. She has a son, Jaxon, who was born in 2016.[24] Nagano's sister is the musician Sandra Sumie Nagano, whose eponymous album was released by Bella Union in December 2013.[25]

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References
  1. Kets, Marc (September 2007). "Feature: Yukimi Nagano". Retrieved 4 September 2017. The first record I ever recorded was with Andreas Saag, I was about 18 and it was shortly after that the Koop guys contacted me to feature on their album. A couple of years later I was touring with them all over the world so it opened a lot of doors for me both live and collaboration wise.
  2. "Koop – Koop Islands -- Discogs".
  3. "Hird – Moving On -- Discogs".
  4. Rathe, Adam (11 April 2011). "The Rise of Little Dragon". Spin. Retrieved 4 September 2017. The band formed 15 years ago in Gothenburg, Sweden. Nagano, 29, whose peripatetic father is Japanese and mother is American, was a freshman in high school when she met seniors Wallin and Bodin.
  5. Freeman, John (14 December 2010). "Fruit Coming to Flower: Little Dragon Interviewed". Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  6. Taylor, Angus (30 August 2007). "Review of Little Dragon – Little Dragon". BBC Music. BBC Online. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  7. "Little Dragon – Machine Dreams -- Discogs".
  8. "Gorillaz Come Alive to Close Coachella". Spin. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  9. Young, Alex (29 July 2011). "Little Dragon Announces US Tour Dates". Tribune Media. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  10. Pelly, Jenn (13 February 2014). "Little Dragon Announce New Album Nabuma Rubberband, Share Single "Klapp Klapp"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  11. "Grammys 2015: Complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Media. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  12. "Little Dragon Announces 'Nabuma Rubberband' LP + European Tour Dates". Okayplayer. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  13. Geslani, Michelle (27 March 2014). "Little Dragon announces 2014 US Tour Dates". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  14. Camp, Zoe (17 August 2015). "ODESZA Announce In Return Deluxe Edition, Team Up With Little Dragon on "Light"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  15. Mench, Chris (18 September 2015). "Review: Mac Miller Finally Seems to Be Growing Up on His Major-Label Debut, 'GO:OD AM'". Complex. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  16. Kreps, Daniel (10 August 2017). "Hear De La Soul's Hypnotic 'Drawn' With Little Dragon". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  17. Fresh, Mikey (10 August 2016). "De La Soul And Little Dragon's "Drawn" Video Travels Through The Mind of A Young Creative". Vibe. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  18. Yoo, Noah (8 March 2017). "Little Dragon Announce New Album Season High, Share New "Sweet" Video: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  19. "SBTRKT – "Wildfire" (feat. Little Dragon)". Stereogum. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  20. Gary, Kevin S. "Raphael Saadiq Announces "Stone Rollin'" Details". HipHopDX. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  21. "DJ Shadow – Scale It Back -- Discogs".
  22. "Big Boi – Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors -- Discogs".
  23. Battan, Carrie (3 October 2012). "Little Dragon Speak About Failed Big Boi Collaboration "Mama Told Me"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  24. Freeman, Hadley (27 April 2017). "Little Dragon: the Swedish psych-pop stars show off their songs – and weightlifting bruises". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  25. http://www.sumienagano.com/
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