Listen to Nilüfer Yanya’s New Single, “midnight sun”
Photo by Molly Daniel
English rock singer/songwriter Nilüfer Yanya has shared “midnight sun,” the second single from her forthcoming follow-up to 2019’s Miss Universe. One of Paste’s most-anticipated albums of 2022, PAINLESS is set for a March 4 release on ATO Records.
Like “stabilise” before it, “midnight sun” is atmospheric, yet propulsive, with arpeggiated guitars and a busy kick drum as the pistons powering its engine. Yanya sings like the xx’s dual vocalists were merged into one person, her voice no less emotive for its hushed delicacy. As the song progresses, her piercing voice becomes wreathed in buzzing guitar distortion, but is never overwhelmed by it.
Yanya spoke to the meaning of “midnight sun” in a statement:
It’s a song about recognizing what it feels like to be pushed down but wanting to resist. I really like the imagery of “midnight sun” as a lyric as it insinuates a light guiding you through darkness. The wings carry their own symbolism—freedom, lightness, flight, fantasy. If I could pick what people saw & heard it would be seeing the beauty of confrontation and the necessity of rebellion.
Yanya made her full-length debut with Miss Universe in 2019, releasing her three-track Feeling Lucky? in 2020, and a Feeling Lucky? Remix EP and vinyl compilation Inside Out (collecting her early EPs) in 2021.
The London native’s 2022 tour of the U.K., E.U. and North America kicks off shortly after the release of PAINLESS in March, with 19 shows across the U.S. and Canada set for late April and May.
Check out the “midnight sun” visualizer (dir. Molly Daniel) below, and find the details of PAINLESS and Yanya’s tour dates further down. You can preorder the album here.
