Two weeks after playing at the 2012 Bonnaroo Music Festival, Yunalis Zarai aka Yuna arrived at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles Tuesday night (Jun. 26) for a performance of songs off her self-titled debut album. Stepping onto the stage wearing a black frock and a purple headscarf — her signature — the Malaysian singer-songwriter looked visibly surprised by the people slowly filtering into the record store’s crowded rows.

“Thank you so much for coming,” she told the audience. “I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t think anyone was going to come.”
The crowd assured her otherwise, screaming “I love you!” and the occasional “Go Yuna!” in her direction. The 25-year-old singer appeared overwhelmed by the proclamations of love, laughing awkwardly and focusing on tuning her guitar instead.
But as soon as she transitioned into the first song of her acoustic set, Yuna drowned out the shuttering cameras and filming iPads with the opening chords to “Island.” She showed no sign of nerves as she played alongside her accompanying guitarist, closing her eyes and strumming her guitar as if by muscle memory, beckoning the audience to “open up your heart to me”.

“I’m from Malaysia,” she said dreamily as she transitioned to “Decorate”, the first song recorded for her EP and her personal favorite. “And now I’m singing here for all of you.” The breakup track was her strongest offering of the evening — graceful, natural, and faithful to the record.
During “Live Your Life”, her current single, Yuna didn’t let the slower pace keep her from having fun; she danced and bobbed along as much as she could manage on her stool, nodding at audience members and empowering them with lyrics such as “find your light / don’t hide from what you are”.