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Friday, July 11, 2025

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Unplugging with Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Adding stalwart guitarist Imaad Wasif, the indie heroes hit Symphony Hall to explore their acoustic side—and some new emotional textures.

When Yeah Yeah Yeahs roll into San Francisco for back-to-back shows at Davies Symphony Hall (July 14–15), longtime fans will be in for something unexpected. 

The beloved New York-based indie rock trio—Karen O, Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase—is unveiling a more intimate, acoustic-centered version of their explosive catalog on the “Hidden in Pieces” tour. 

Alongside them is a figure who’s been softly shaping alternative music for decades: singer-songwriter Imaad Wasif. Joining on guitars (a role he’s fulfilled on the road since 2006), he deepens the band’s sound from within.

“It’s a wild ride,” Wasif tells 48Hills about rounding out the group as second guitarist. “This tour is very special to me because we are reimagining Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ catalog and I’m getting to explore much more of the acoustic textures and tap into an intimacy within the songs.”

And while the tour is one kind of reimagining, Wasif’s new single—a cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I See a Darkness”—is another. 

Released via his newly launched Voidist Records label, the track distills a lifetime of creative searching into one emotionally resonant performance.

“It’s always been hanging around my psyche, somewhere up in the cobwebs in my mind since I first heard it in 1999,” says Wasif. “I always wanted to cover it.”

Imaad Wassif. Photo by Nick Zinner

When Wasif first encountered “I See a Darkness,” he was in his early twenties and fronting the LA slowcore band lowercase. The Bonnie “Prince” Billy album became a constant on the road, its minimalist production and raw emotionality aligning closely with lowercase’s aesthetic.

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“It’s been a difficult few years personally, and also not to speak trivially, for the state of the world, but the waves keep coming,” he says. “This song just kept resonating for me.”

That early exposure prompted him to explore acoustic songwriting and provided a model for expressing vulnerability without theatrics. Decades later, after the Eaton Fire in Southern California displaced him from his home, Wasif began performing the song live. The personal upheaval, paired with the global sense of dread and unrest, gave the track a new urgency in his set.

At Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas—while recording with Yeah Yeah Yeahs under bright stars and wintered bare pecan trees—he laid down two takes of “I See a Darkness,” ultimately selecting the first for release. Bobb Bruno (of Best Coast) contributed bass, while Chase, decompressing after an intense session with his band, added spontaneous drums.

“The recording session for ‘I See A Darkness’ came at the tail end of another recording session, which itself was long and emotionally charged,” says Chase. “Carrying that energy into Imaad’s session was quite natural and helped inspire the recording.”

The fluid, late-night session, driven more by feel than formality, captures a kind of woozy intimacy that feels baked into the recording itself.

“‘I See A Darkness’ is an appropriate title for a track recorded in post-midnight hours,” Chase adds. “Given the late hour of the session, everything happened rather immediately. It had to; belaboring the process wasn’t an option. It was full focus and all systems go as soon as ‘Record’ was hit.”

Wasif calls the session “blissfully ragged,” a phrase that perfectly encapsulates the song’s haunting, lived-in sound. 

The accompanying video, shot in one take by director Astara Calas, mirrors that immediacy. Featuring a lone figure on a winding drive, the visuals draw on the atmospheric influence of Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire. The viewer becomes a spectral observer, bearing witness to unspoken thoughts and emotions blurred by motion.

“I’ve long sought the key to crack the code of song,” says Wasif. “The Akashic Songbook … [is] the universal songs that exist in the unseen life spiral and are there to be accessed if you are ready. One leads to another in a series of unfolding.”

This belief in song as a spiritual artifact shapes Wasif’s creative output. 

Known for his genre-blending approach and spiritually rich lyricism, Wasif has long moved between roles and genres—collaborating with Lou Barlow, playing in psych-folk outfit alaska!, and helping craft the soundtrack to Where the Wild Things Are with Karen O. 

His solo work fuses goth-folk, Indian ragas, post-punk, and psychedelia into a body of music that feels timeless and deeply human.

With the launch of Voidist Records, Wasif gains a new level of autonomy. The label will oversee the re-release of his entire back catalog and provide a home for his upcoming projects. “I See a Darkness” is the first offering from this new phase, and its resonance suggests a rich season ahead.

Imaad and Brian. Photo courtesy of Imaad Wasif

“Playing with Imaad in Yeah Yeah Yeahs is so awesome,” Chase says. “He brings an incredible amount to the music. To have the opportunity to work with Imaad on other music is a treat.”

Wasif echoes the sentiment, admitting a deep connection to the drummer, both musically and “weirdness-wise.”

“At this point, whenever we play music, it becomes symbiotic,” says Wasif. “We don’t even really have to talk—there’s just a psychic connection.”

That bond is on full display throughout the “Hidden in Pieces” tour, where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are reimagining their sound with stripped-down arrangements and a string quartet arranged by composer Jherek Bischoff. 

Presented in an intimate setting, these performances cast the group’s catalog in a newly textured light, supported by strings, acoustic guitars, and piano.

Blending nostalgia with reinvention, the shows serve as both a tribute to their legacy and a bold reimagining of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ sound. Familiar songs—both hits and hidden gems—are transformed into something rich with new emotional and sonic dimensions.

“Karen, Nick, and I have been doing this for about 25 years,” Chase says. “Each night is its own night, and the music is continually renewed to meet the occasion.” 

The more reflective format suits the moment. 

Thinking about the intensity of the relatively quieter music reminds Chase of a phrase that a drum teacher once taught him: “You can still get burned by a low flame.”

Returning to San Francisco to perform at Davies Symphony Hall is a full-circle moment for Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Wasif.

The band’s 2004 live DVD, Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow, features a performance at The Fillmore from March of that year. Their 2009 music video, “Zero” was filmed across the Tenderloin, North Beach, and Chinatown and at the former Transbay Terminal, South of Market.

Wasif has an even deeper connection to San Francisco: He called it home from 1995 to 2001.

“I cut my teeth at Bottom of the Hill, The Chameleon, The Trocadero, Great American Music Hall, and Bimbo’s,” says the singer-songwriter. “I learned how to write songs while walking those streets.”

At a time when the world feels increasingly chaotic, the harmony between Wasif’s meditative songwriting and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ renewed energy creates a space for reflection—and maybe even transcendence.

YEAH YEAH YEAHS Mon/14 and Tue/15. Davies Symphony Hall, SF. Tickets and more info here.

Joshua Rotter
Joshua Rotter
Joshua Rotter is a contributing writer for 48 Hills. He’s also written for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, SF Examiner, SF Chronicle, and CNET.

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