Nilüfer Yanya: “I’m learning what to be precious over and what not to be so precious over”
It’s Glastonbury eve and singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya is prepping for her biggest set yet down on Worthy Farm. She played the festival in 2019 and 2022, but for 2025 has graduated to the 30,000-capacity West Holts Stage alongside the likes of chart-bothering rapper Doechii. This, readers, is a major gig.
“We rehearsed yesterday specifically for the show and I know what I’m wearing now, so it’s kind of sorted,” she tells NME over Zoom, typically laidback about it. Fast-forward 48 hours and the west Londoner has blown away a field of punters with her grungey brand of melancholic indie-rock – and, thanks to a stylish black chiffon top and mirrored sunglasses, looked impossibly cool while doing so.
But we’re not surprised: Yanya has been sailing effortlessly through a succession of career highs for the past 12 months. In September, she dropped her critically acclaimed third album, ‘My Method Actor’, which was stuffed with carefully considered, introspective tunes that suddenly burst into life as headbanging guitar thrashers. Our favourite was lead single ‘Like I Say (I Runaway)’, and it rightfully featured on NME’s Best Songs Of 2024. After that, she went on an epic tour across Europe and North America.
On Wednesday (July 2), Yanya returned with a new EP of inward-looking gems, ‘Dancing Shoes’, that’ll also get your feet twitching on the dancefloor. Read on for an in-depth look at the new tracks, how ’90s legend David Gray provided inspiration for them and the exciting support gigs on the horizon.
Hey Nilüfer, you’ve come a long way since your lowkey set at NME’s VO5 Festival Showcase in 2017 – how have you found the journey?
Nilüfer Yanya: “It feels crazy that that was eight years ago because I still remember it really well! I was feeling pretty happy with the way things were going [at the time]. Most people don’t even get that far.”
How do you look back on those early gigs now?
“I think the songs were OK, but at the time I was like: ‘This is the best song I’ve ever written!’ I also thought performing was a weak spot for me… It felt like I had a long way to go but now I’m really proud of the live show, my band and how we’re able to replicate a bit more what happens on record.”
Your latest album, ‘My Method Actor’, felt like a watershed moment – and you’re following it up with a new EP within a year…
“It’s quite quick, isn’t it? I guess people’s attention spans are a bit shorter these days when it comes to the album cycle. You can put a lot of work into an album and then it can just disappear once it’s out.”
So these new songs are a continuation of ‘My Method Actor’?
“Yeah, there were maybe one or two that we were writing at the same time, but they just didn’t take off. They could have made it but, then, it just felt like we were failing those songs. So instead of wasting more time on them, it felt better to go with other ones.”
Why did you call the new EP ‘Dancing Shoes’? The songs are quite introspective…
“One of my favourite songs on the EP is called ‘Treason’ – and there’s a lyric on it about putting on your dancing shoes. I find that to be quite a strong image… Then there’s another side to it, which is more of a metaphor for life – when you’re dancing, you’re not doing other things, you’re fully in the moment.”
Are you a big dancer?
“That depends. If everyone’s dancing then yeah, but I’m probably not the first person on the floor. I don’t really enjoy drawing that much attention to myself.”
It’s a good job you’re not a performer then…
[Laughs] “I know! But that’s the thing, I don’t have to dance. I found this caveat – people can dance to my songs.”
On the EP’s first track, ‘Kneel’, who is doing the kneeling and who is being told to kneel?
“Hmm, it’s about committing yourself to something or somebody and feeling like you’re surrendering. I don’t know who’s leaving or not leaving in the song. It’s just the energy of the lyrics.”
The lyrics on ‘Cold Heart’ are about having lost something and in ‘Where To Look’ you’re searching for something again – is that how you feel as a songwriter?
“Yes, you’ve put it quite nicely – like you’re trying to grasp something and sometimes you get a glimpse of it and then it’s gone. I feel like that with the lyrics because you can get really excited by [one line] and then you might not be able to get there with the next line.”
Who were you influenced by on this record?
“‘Treason’ has this softer side to it and we referenced ‘Babylon’ by David Gray, from the ’90s. I love that song. And Wil [Archer, Yanya’s co-producer and frequent collaborator] kept referencing Madonna. I was also listening to a lot of Paul Spring. I love his guitar playing. He plays weird folk stuff and sings in Latin sometimes.”
You mention Wilma Archer, who produced the EP – what has he brought to your music?
“On these [recent] records, we’ve definitely been painting the picture together from the beginning. It’s very collaborative when it comes to writing. When I first started out trying to make music, everybody told me to work with this producer or that producer and they were all really good but sometimes I’d meet people and be like, ‘I don’t want to write a song with him. I don’t see how I fit in here…’ it’s taken a while for me to let those boundaries down and realise the best music is made through collaboration. And [working with Wilma] is my version of that.”
You just turned 30, which makes this EP the first release of your thirties…
“People always say that when you turn 30, you just don’t care as much. And I think that’s true, because I’m learning what to be precious over and what not to be so precious over [with my music]. There’s a lot of pressure put on your twenties to make or break it, but I think it’s actually the later years [that matter the most].”
You’re heading on tour with Alex G in the States this autumn – does that feel like a good match?
“I haven’t done the support tour in a long time, so I’m excited. It’s quite nice because you get to be the other band and they have to say hello to you. You don’t have to host and can take the back seat.”
And after that, you’re supporting Lorde on a winter tour…
“I’ve known her music for ages, so it’s crazy. When I left school at 18, I did this course. It wasn’t a degree, it was about artist development. And on one of the first days, one of our tutors showed us the video to Lorde’s new song. She was a new artist at the time, and the tutor was talking about how the branding and everything was all, like, 100 per cent – the song, the video, it’s all great… She’s been around for so long that I feel like she’s much older than me but she’s actually still only 28.”
Away from music, you co-founded Artists In Transit, which provides creative workshops for children of refugee backgrounds. At a time of such conflict around the world, does it feel more important to give back in that way?
“I think it’s always gonna be important to me… The thing that shocks me the most today is how [the government] are trying to [classify] Palestine Action as a terrorist group when they’re the complete opposite of terrorists. It makes me feel very scared to be living in a country that can make those kind of [decisions]… But, with Artists In Transit, it’s good to have something we can do that is a positive response as opposed to just feeling powerless.”
Nilüfer Yanya’s ‘Dancing Shoes’ EP is out now via Ninja Tune
The post Nilüfer Yanya: “I’m learning what to be precious over and what not to be so precious over” appeared first on NME.
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