More about: Nilufer Yanya

Off the back of her latest release, Nilufer Yanya is back to live shows with a noticeably bigger crowd this time round.

The set tours her latest lauded album PAINLESS described as 'nervy punk' by critics. It attempts to encapsulate the tied up emotions of inner-city life, whilst citing punk rock and nu-indie as its key influences. But Yanya’s delicate neo-soul vocals bring the music to life. Her lucid creativity knows no bounds, soaking each song in a heartfelt stupor that acts to enamour each listener.

Beginning with 'midnight sun’, Yanya lulls the crowd into a soft sway, each head moving in time with her dry tone. She demonstrates her technical prowess neatly, and the performance certainly isn’t showy. She continues with a cover of PJ Harvey’s 'Rid Of Me', carefully capturing Harvey’s wry snark and dark humour in the confines of the Yanya composition.

Yanya’s understanding of the significance of musical texture over substance is apparent, as she leans into the sparse orchestration of 'chase me' and 'stabilise' allowing her sombre vocals to flit above her wavering crunch guitar. She is joined on stage by the legato pumps of the outfit’s alto saxophonist, who brings a vital dynamic to the concert and embraces each yearning saxophone sentence with a vigorous dedication.

Although at times the lo-fi production and hushed performance feel laboured in the cavernous Electric Brixton, she has the audience wrapped around her little finger, chanting along to 2019’s ‘Baby Blu’ with little restraint and near-shouting the hook of 'the dealer'.

Yanya and her band embrace the rhythmic bedrock of Biig Piig and the playfulness of Wet Leg, all whilst delivering original songs that decay and intensify over the performance. Yanya is devising some of the most challenging and sonically minimal indie-rock out there, and whilst its immediacy resonates throughout the room, it sometimes feels scant and naked under the glaring stage lamps. This pragmatic performance leaves many doors still to open for Yanya, and whichever she decides to walk through will dictate her future fate as perhaps indie’s most reflective star. Evergrowing from the cult status of her 2019 debut Miss Universe, Nilufer’s stage presence perfectly maintains the unique oddities of her recordings, while bringing all the energy you want from a gig.

See the photos below by Katie McLellan-Salisbury

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More about: Nilufer Yanya