Opinion: Let Me Introduce You to Your New Favorite Musical Artist

The singer, songwriter, and musician Nilüfer Yanya is a generational talent, and more people need to know about her

Photo byWikimedia Commons

I’m someone with very strong opinions on art, literature, music, film/shows, etc. If you ask me my favorite band of all time, it’s an easy answer: Dancing Years. My favorite TV show is a tie between Deadwood and Fleabag. My favorite living rapper is Andre 3000, and my favorite rapper overall is Nipsey Hussle.

When it comes to books, I like philosophy, classic fiction, and informational nonfiction. My favorite book of all time is The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. My favorite philosophy books (excluding Emerson) are, first, Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche and, second, Maxims by La Rochefoucauld. My favorite works of classic fiction are, first, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and, second, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. My favorites in informational nonfiction are, first, Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond and, second, Frames of Mind by Howard Gardner.

However, I’ve never felt the need to write an article dedicated solely to any of the names listed above. But there’s one artist who has been supplying me with so much music of such incredible quality and who no one in my country seems to know about that I can’t put off writing an ode to her any longer.

The British singer, Nilüfer Yanya (ni·luh·fuh ya·nyuh), has been my favorite artist since I first discovered her music in 2018.

Her lyrics are often somewhat vague and abstract, but they manage to convey her meaning without ever directly saying it. The production in her songs is atmospheric and often sad, and she sings gently but in a voice that is richly textured with emotion.

She released her first EP in 2016, titled Small Crimes/Keep on Calling. The song Small Crimes from that EP remains one of my favorites.

Here are some of the lyrics:

[Verse 1]

I’m a petty thief
And what I find I keep
I was supposed to set an example
But I am a vandal
Yeah, the paper’s nice
But it’s the rush I like
You don’t care about the money
When you’re an adrenaline junkie

[Chorus]

Small crimes but
Some things I just wouldn’t do
White lies burn
Sometimes I just can’t keep to

The lyrics speak of that common state any self-reflecting person finds themselves in when deeply wronged. You acknowledge that you, too, are capable of doing bad, hurting others, and being selfish, but you’ve still been hurt and perhaps to a degree beyond what you can ever imagine doing to another. The musical delivery brings the message home in a superb way and is a must-listen.

Her next EP, Plant Feed, was released in 2017 and is equally remarkable (as are all her projects to date), but it doesn’t contain any of my favorite songs. The one to follow, however, Do You Like Pain? released the following year, in 2018, has one of my favorite songs.

It’s titled Thanks 4 Nothing, and here are some lyrics:

[Verse 1]

Too late, too cold
I just can’t believe he’s here
Outside, mind blown
Guess I got over the idea
Had me on hold
So I let you disappear
And now you pass
This all seems way too weird

[Chorus]

This is the end
I don’t think we can be friends
Just being honest
‘Cause I don’t want to make things better
Thanks for nothing lasts forever
And even when we were together
Well, let’s be honest

It captures the complete desolation that marks the end of a relationship. The unfortunate and irreconcilable nature of it is seldomly detailed in such a bleak and matter-of-fact way as Yanya is able to in this song. It discusses the long, drawn-out process that builds up to the end and then the almost dispassionate conclusion, which is something that we’ve all likely experienced at one point or another.

The three EPs discussed so far were eventually compiled into one EP and rereleased, under the title Inside Out. In 2019, she released her first studio album, Miss Universe. The album is a great listen from start to finish, which is impressive considering its 17-song tracklist. Yet, it doesn’t have any of my favorite songs.

The same could be said for the three-song EP that followed it, Feeling Lucky? All three of those tracks are great but not my personal favorites, and with limited space, I’d reserve specific mentions for the songs on the two albums to follow. Her 2022 studio album, Painless, has two more of my favorites by her.

The first of the two is titled Shameless. Here are some of the lyrics:

[Verse 2]

You can hate me
If you feel like
If it feels good
Must be alright
You can turn
Turn and say

[Chorus]

I’ve wasted my life
So there’s no need for the rush
We got all the time here
So why hurry up?
In these four walls we’re stateless
Still going out with the faithless

If that is a sign
If this is enough
Then why do I lie here
Left leaving your touch?
Under it all I’m shameless
Until you fall it’s painless

She’s talking about casting aside her standards, her own wants, and her understanding that she shouldn’t be in the relationship in order to persist in it anyway. “In these four walls, we’re stateless” and “until you fall, it’s painless” speak to how she’s suspending her recognition of everything that’s wrong and continuing to heedlessly follow her heart.

The line “under it all, I’m shameless” is such a cutting statement about what any of us would do for love. She doesn’t care that she’s been mistreated, or that she’s “wasting her life” by “going out with the faithless.” She’s rebuking herself for being the way we all are when in love with a person who isn’t good for us.

The next of the two is titled Troubles.

[Verse 1]

When we wake
Try and change my mind
(There’s a way to be lonely)

[Verse 2]

Acid bites
Gonna cut these lines
(It’s the way that you’d hold me)

[Pre-Chorus]

If there’s a little time I’ll wait
And if there’s a reason why I’ll stay
Days too far apart
Chained you to my heart
Strangers side by side
Strangers all our lives

[Chorus]

Troubled don’t count the ways I’m broken
Your troubles won’t count, not once we’ve spoken
What troubles me now If I tear right open
Some people won’t have the faintest notion

It’s really nothing but Yanya’s reflection on being completely overwhelmed emotionally. It speaks to that internal turbulence we’ve all felt, where we’re trying to hold it all in, but we’re approaching our breaking point. “Troubled don’t count the ways I’m broken” illustrates the ineffable state she’s in, and “What troubles me now, if I tear right open, some people won’t have the faintest notion” details just how alone she feels in her condition. It paints a picture of that raw, rock-bottom emotional state that we’ve all unfortunately experienced at some point or another.

Her most recent album, released just last month, and the work that inspired me to finally write this article is titled My Method Actor. It’s an instant classic and has two more of my favorites by her.

The first is Binding.

[Verse 1]

Driving too fast
Vacant and glass eyed
Not coming back
Down from the hills
Chemical crash
Damaged my left side
Don’t get attached
Taste of the steel

[Interlude]

And it feels like, feels like it’s deeper and deeper
Drive all night, that green light gets weaker and weaker

[Pre-Chorus]

So come on and feel this, I’m hardly here either
One push and my wheels give, amnesia, amnesia
So come on and feel this, the needle gets deeper
I’m hollow I needed this, I need your amnesia

[Chorus]

We chase each storm, it takes me nowhere
Cut this loop inside my heart
Getting caught inside my chest
And I taste your scorn, I don’t know what’s left
Got to give me something strong
Got to make sure it’s your best

The song is about the irresistible draw of pleasure and thrill-seeking. She writes that “drive all night, that green light gets weaker and weaker” and (from a portion of the lyrics not shared above) “view from a new height, happiness tax, ecstasy builds” to describe how these things become less fulfilling over time, but how she’s “bound” to them regardless. Again, touching on a universal human experience, she brilliantly paints a picture of pleasure-seeking behaviors that are self-destructive but feel necessary in light of a life that seems to be inherently lacking at times.

Finally, the last song I’ll discuss before closing out this article is Ready for Sun (touch). The lyrics are rich with analogy and perfectly describe depression.

[Verse 1]

Can’t find my shadow
We come as a pair
You’re free then not free
Twin gods in your head
The chance to just heal up or die
I fall apart
This can’t hurt, I’m broken inside

[Pre-Chorus]

Can’t touch my soul
Can’t find what’s there
I’m at my worst
Don’t think I care
Gone is the best you wish you had
Promise me?
Call and say you’re gonna make this hard

[Bridge]

I think I really wanted to miss you
I think I really wanted the chance
I guess I really wanted to fill that void
But never really want it to last
I think I really wanted to touch you
In heaven will they give me a chance?
I guess I really wanted to fill that void
I think I really want it to last
I guess I really wanted a chance

The lyrics depict a state of complete numbness: “This can’t hurt, I’m broken inside” and “I’m at my worst, don’t think I care.” The soul, or feeling core, is compared to her shadow in the first line; it’s that immaterial part of herself that is usually with her but is now gone in a state of darkness. Yet, as the title says, she’s “ready for sun.”

That concludes my exposition of the stunningly beautiful and masterful work of the now 29-year-old Nilüfer Yanya. She’s my favorite artist not only because she’s put out some of my favorite songs of all time, each of them fantastic musically and lyrically, but also because I can honestly say she’s never put out a song I didn’t like. She’s an incredible talent and one I felt compelled to share with more people. I hope you’ll listen to her work and can appreciate it as I have. I’ve spent countless hours lost in the beauty of her music, and I want that for everyone.