Nilüfer Yanya - PAINLESS

As the echoed trap beats on album mid-point ‘midnight sun’ give way to a gentle guitar riff reminiscent of mid-‘00s acoustic emo, it secures Nilüfer Yanya’s unique sound. Having explored a massive range of styles on her ambitious 2019 debut opus, ‘PAINLESS’ finds Nilüfer distilling her music to a considered blend of alternative R&B, as much influenced by her soulful contemporaries as by garage rockers and grunge aficionados. The blend is evident in the rock and roll swagger of ‘L/R’, the unrelenting pace of ‘the dealer’, and the Nirvana-esque guitars of ‘chase me‘. This refined sound gives Nilüfer the confidence to dismantle the walls offered by her previous record’s concept, instead finding a narrative in the multiple facets of pain. Gone is wider social commentary, now homing in on the universal experiences of loss, loneliness, and self-repair. Paired with more concentrated sonics, it plays out as deeply introspective and personal. Its comparable ease is represented in the album’s title, both an abstract call to welcome and accept pain, and a knowing nod to how quickly these songs fell into place. It’s this ease that underpins a record that reaches past the confines of bedroom pop without losing any of its magic. Beyond what has come before, ‘PAINLESS’ feels like a true representation of its creator; simultaneously delicate, fierce, vulnerable and fiery.