The last time we talked to Nilüfer Yanya, the British artist confessed to us after the departure of ‘My Method Actor’, her last and acclaimed album, who was thinking about retiring “a long time and then returning.” Now that a few months have passed, Yanya returns with ‘Cold Heart’, his new single, and a head with the ideas settled.
The 30-year-old singer-songwriter has also been a reason for news recently when she was announced as a telen in the ‘Ultrasound World Tour’ by Lorde, along with artists such as Blood Orange, The Japanese House, Chanel Beads, Empress of, Jim-E Stack and Oklou.
On the occasion of his next concert on June 3 in the Apollo room in Barcelona, as part of the spring programming to Ciutat, we speak with Nilüfer Yanya about the results of his latest study sessions with Will Archer, his future in industry and the balance between artistic recognition and commercial success.
You have returned with the new ‘Cold Heart’, and with a melody that I cannot get out of my head. At the end of the tour, were you directly to the studio with Will?
Yes, we wanted to reserve the last part of the year to see what we could do. We expected to be able to make some more singles or an EP and we had ideas that were left over from the last album and that we had not finished.
‘Cold Heart’ was one that left over or something totally new?
That new era. It was a kind of happy accident.
Yes, you said that he had felt like an “experiment,” right?
The first time Will taught me his ideas for the song, as the way percussion sounded, the synts and guitars felt very spacious and was something that I could have fun experiencing. At the same time, I thought that this style was not for me, if that makes sense.
Why did you think that?
I simply think a little more pop. More than some of the other production options, but in a cool way. It reminded me of Kate Bush or something. He also had a cleaner sound, but he wasn’t sure if he was going to work.
«I would love to put another album and rethink it from there. I would always go back to music, but I’m trying to have an open mind »
What else arose from those sessions with Will? If something can be said.
When does the interview come out?
The truth is that I don’t know, I suppose it depends on what you say now.
Then I shouldn’t say much, but we do write other songs. A few more, so …
I was going to ask you if this was going to be an independent single or part of something.
It is not independent, but I suppose it has not been announced. There are more to come.
Together with ‘Cold Heart’, you have also relaunched the first two singles of your latest album: ‘Like I say (i runaway)’ and ‘Method actor’. Do you feel just as connected to those as with ‘Cold Heart’?
I feel a little less connected to ‘Cold Heart’, I think. Nor did he intend to be the first single single. I didn’t think it was like a reintroduction. I also feel that it is a song that will be more difficult to play live, you know? There are not so many guitars or sounds that I am used to when we are on stage, so I think it will be a bit more complicated for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8if1kqvlzd0
The last time we talked to you, you told us that you were considering many things about your career, such as working with other people, not throwing an album and even taking a break and returning later. How are you going with it?
I still think about all this, but I think I’m definitely going to make another album soon. I would love to put another album and then rethink it from there. I think I’m aware that time is really fast. I have been doing this during all my 20 and now that I am entering the 30s I ask myself: What do I want for the next 10 years? Do I want to continue doing the same or do I see if I am interested in trying something else? It is simply thinking about other possibilities. I think I would always return to music, but I am trying to have an open mind.
‘My Method Actor’ ended at number 17 on the list of the best albums of the year. Now that some time has passed. What do you reflect on that album and what it means to your career in general?
I think it is a fairly successful album. I think all those songs were really good. I tried not to have any weak point or anything filling. Will and I focused on doing our best than we thought it could be, so I’m very proud of it. It is very rare how fast we leave things behind, because the truth is that I don’t think too much about him and I think there are some songs there that still have life. As ‘Just a Western’, which I would like him to have his own moment.
You are used to receiving good comments from professional criticism. How do you deal with it?
I think I have been very lucky and I see it that way because I know that there are many artists I admire and respect that do not necessarily receive the same attention as criticism. Even my friend Will Archer, with whom I made the album. I greatly admire his ideas and his music, but I know that much of what he has done in the past has not had the same impact. I’m lucky that people have given my music an opportunity.
“I do not mean that I do not value the recognition of criticism, but what you can give you commercial success is really at another level”
Would you change it for mass commercial success?
That is the complicated part, but probably yes. Why not?
Yeah? And so?
I have been very lucky and I do not mean that I do not value the recognition of criticism, but what can give you commercial success is really at another level when you think about it. They are all the things you would be free to make and the decisions you could make. That is, with commercial success there comes a lot of money. I might have nothing, so I’m very happy. I am happy with what I have.
Commercial success gives you opportunities and money, all that. The other gives you, I don’t know, the feeling of being proud. Validation, too.
Yes, and those things are important, but money also validates you, right? Money in the music industry is so bad that it is difficult to do some of the things you would like to do, even go on tour. With more commercial success, you would have less limits in that sense and you could go on tour as you always wanted. You could do things in the way you want. I keep growing to reach that point one day, but I honestly don’t know if I will ever arrive. I don’t even have a tour bus. My mother, instead of driving everywhere with the van … you may not need commercial success. I think there is some myth. People sometimes think that when you have one of the two, you automatically also have the other. It is best to have both, it would be perfect (laughs).
This summer you have many pending festivals. Do you enjoy going on tour?
It is very, very, very tired, it is first a privilege to be able to do it. When I was younger I didn’t feel so much sometimes going on tour. Now it’s like I don’t want to go, but I really need it. It’s a bit like that.
How would you describe a concert of yours?
It is a band bolus and becomes quite “heavy” at a given point. Moments of rocking and then others calmer and delicate. There are also some setting sections.
