Nilüfer Yanya

Nilüfer Yanya is a mercurial British singer/songwriter whose music crosses numerous genres like indie rock, jazz, and psychedelia with a strong electronic influence. She rode a series of eclectic EPs and singles like "Small Crimes" and "Baby Luv" to widespread critical acclaim in advance of her 2019 full-length debut, Miss Universe. Continuing to merge yearning indie pop/rock with soul, jazz, psychedelia, and more, PAINLESS followed in 2022. After switching from ATO Records to the Ninja Tune label, Yanya returned in 2024, with My Method Actor still showing signs of experimentation and sonic expansion (touches of grunge, hip-hop, and more). A West London native, Yanya played classical piano in secondary school, later developing a love for electric guitar, encouraged by her guitar teacher, Dave Okumu of the Invisible. Her early inspirations included bands like Pixies and the Cure. As she continued writing songs, a more soulful element evolved thanks to the influence of artists like Jeff Buckley and Nina Simone. After several years of hitting London's small stages and open mikes, Yanya broke through with her acclaimed 2016 EP, Small Crimes, which introduced fans to her mix of dark guitar pop with jazzy undertones and plenty of ethereal moodiness. Subsequent EPs Plant Feed (2017) and Do You Like Pain? (2018) yielded widely streamed singles like "Baby Luv" and "The Florist," firmly establishing Yanya as a rising star in the U.K. indie world. She struck a deal with Universal-owned ATO Records and made her full-length debut in early 2019 with the nearly hour-long Miss Universe, a mysterious semi-conceptual album tied together by oblique snippets promoting a fake self-care program called WWAY Health. Yanya come back in 2020 with a fourth EP, Feeling Lucky?, and a year later, her three early EPs were collated into a compilation called Inside Out. Her second proper album, PAINLESS, arrived on ATO in March 2022. A significant critical success, it made numerous year-end lists while reaching 86 on the U.K. charts and number 12 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. A deluxe version was released later that year and featured a cover of PJ Harvey's "Rid of Me." Yanya next moved to the Ninja Tune label, which released her 2024 LP, My Method Actor. Her third straight album to involve Wilma Archer (Sudan Archives, Celeste), who in this case was the record's only other contributor, it found her further expanding her sound palette while continuing to mine intimate and searching territories. ~ Timothy Monger