Nilüfer Yanya, 27, a London-based alt-rocker on her sophomore album, Painless, caught my attention from the start. Her smooth voice juxtaposed against a drum-machine rock beat creates a whole musical universe that invites the listener in (on her IG page it says “welcome to my world”). The slacker guitar riff is difficult to pin down, revolving around and around. “When I was writing this song I was thinking about the transient nature of life and the cyclical nature of the seasons,” Yanya said of her new single in a press release. The Dealer is minimal from start to finish with only the bass and some synths marking the beginning and end of choruses, but it works. Yanya’s songwriting and attitude remind me a bit of another English singer-songwriter-guitarist, Joan Armatrading, not just the sound of her voice, but also the attitude. It turns out that Yanya had once been given an invitation by a pop impresario to join a girl band, but she decided against it. After the smash success of her first album, Miss Universe, she is someone who likes doing it her way.

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www.niluferyanya.com