Nilüfer Yanya (; born 11 May 1995) is an English singer, songwriter and musician.

Early life

Yanya is the daughter of two visual artists, her mother is of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and Barbadian heritage and her father is Turkish. Yanya grew up in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

listening to

Turkish music The music of Turkey includes mainly Turkic and Byzantine elements as well as partial influences ranging from Ottoman music, Middle Eastern music and Music of Southeastern Europe, as well as references to more modern European and American popula ...

and classical music playing at home. She gravitated to guitar rock and learned how to play the instrument at the age of 12.

Career

Informally starting her musical career with demos uploaded to

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

in 2014, Yanya turned down an offer to join a girl group produced by Louis Tomlinson of

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...

and focused on developing her own music instead. She has spoken out against this model of talent acquisition, telling ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'': "'Let's go and pinch some young people, tell them we're going to make a really successful group but we're obviously going to make a lot more money than them.' It's a very selfish thing to do." The project was reportedly abandoned after a year. Her first EP, ''Small Crimes/Keep on Calling'', was released in 2016. Her second EP, ''Plant Feed'', was released in 2017, followed by ''Do You Like Pain?'' in 2018. In 2019, Yanya released her debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

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'', which received rave reviews and critical acclaim, with critics noting her ability to bounce back and forth between musical and lyrical styles, shifting between "gimlet-eyed composure and cataclysmic panic". Yanya's music has been described as nervous and restless, combining influences from

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, and

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

. A ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' review called her voice "malleable and endlessly expressive." In 1-2 July 2022, Yanya performed before

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

's first live UK concert after five years, in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

. Yanya is currently the UK starter act for rock band

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

who reformed in 2022 for a 50th anniversary tour.

Musical style

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though every issue in ...

'' has likened her material to the likes of

King Krule Archy Ivan Marshall (born 24 August 1994), also known by his stage name King Krule, among other names, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, rapper and record producer. He began recording music in 2010 under the moniker Zoo Kid. The fol ...

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

Parquet Courts Parquet Courts is an American rock band from New York City. The band consists of Andrew Savage (vocals, guitar), Austin Brown (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Sean Yeaton (bass, vocals), and Max Savage (drums). History Band members Andrew Savage a ...

and

the Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ...

Personal life

Yanya has tried to embrace her Turkish heritage more as an adult and started taking Turkish lessons. She likes to involve her family in her career, with her younger sister Elif sometimes performing with her as a backing singer and her elder sister Molly directing her music videos. Yanya stated in a Turkish interview that her mother lived in Turkey with her father when they were expecting her, and she often heard the Turkish pop singer Nilüfer's name on the radio. She loved the name so much that she said, "If I have a daughter, I will name her Nilüfer."

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' (2019) * '' Painless'' (2022) EPs * ''Small Crimes/Keep on Calling'' (2016) * ''Plant Feed'' (2017) * ''Do You Like Pain?'' (2018) * ''Feeling Lucky?'' (2020) * ''Inside Out'' (2021)

References

External links

* – official site * * *
Nilüfer Yanya: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
National Public Radio, 22 July 2020 1995 births Living people Alternative rock guitarists Alternative rock singers ATO Records artists British indie rock musicians English rock keyboardists English rock singers English people of Barbadian descent English people of Irish descent English people of Turkish descent Musicians from London 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers {{UK-music-bio-stub