Yuna’s second album is finally here!

The Malaysian singer’s new album, Nocturnal, released on October 29th, 2013, has proven to be a step up for the artist. She’s back with some very sassy tunes just a year after the release of her first self-titled 2012 album, Yuna.

Yuna is an album characterized by very soft, sweet sounds with songs like “Lullabies” and “Tourist.” Nocturnal is definitely a slight turn away from the sweet innocence that Yuna brought to fans back in 2012.

Yuna opens the album with “Falling,” because she must assume that after hearing her voice for the first time, listeners will “keep falling” for her voice.

She’s right. You will.

The ballads on this album are “Lovely Intermission,” “I Want You Back,” “Call Everyone,” and “Colors.” The song “Colors” features profound lyrics, and the sentiment shines through beautifully as Yuna’s sweet voice sings “Don’t let all the colors fade away.” It is clear in this song that she is begging a lover to stay and continue to bring color to her life.

Some of the more upbeat tracks on this album include “Rescue,” “I Wanna Go,” “Bravest Thing,” “Come Back” and “Hanging On.” The track “Come Back” is medium tempo, with a beat held by the snare, sounding like a cute hand clap. “Hanging On” is one of the more interesting tracks on the album, as it features an oriental sound of bells and gongs in the background, intro, and outro.

Nocturnal also features two songs of the R&B genre. “Escape” and “Lights and Camera” are quite different from Yuna’s previous album. You can’t help but want to escape with Yuna’s voice as she sings “I could use an escape” on the track “Escape.”

“Someone Who Can” is a track that screams sassy. On this beautiful track with rapid violin melodies in between the chorus and verse, she sings about moving on to another guy since the one she’s with doesn’t treat her the way she knows she’s supposed to be treated. This track is also featured on NPR‘s “Fall Music Preview.”

You go, girl!

My absolute favorite on this album is “Mountains.” The ukelele chords have an intriguing Bollywood influence mixed with a Westernized violin melody. The way she sings the lyrics of the song are just so sassy!

Overall, I enjoyed Yuna’s new album, but I will admit that if I had to choose between Nocturnal and Yuna, I think I’d choose Yuna.

Enjoy the album on Spotify!