New Music: Nilüfer Yanya - Heavyweight Champion Of The Year (Video)

Nilüfer Yanya last appeared on Breaking More Waves blog ticking the ‘musician in the bath’ box earlier this year (here). This time she goes one further and as Friendly Fires once suggested we all do, jumps in the pool for her new single Heavyweight Champion Of The Year. And being an arty and credible sort of musician, she doesn’t jump in like the 20 million record selling Sabrina for her 80's 'classic' video Boys Boys Boys (complete with the infamous nipple slip) or even splash around in shades and swimwear on a lilo like George Michael in the 'classy' Club Tropicana video. In fact, if you watch those 2 videos (just click on the song titles) it might make you consider how less serious and self-conscious things were in the 80s compared to now.

Nilüfer’s video reflects our time. It has depth of idea. There's no 'let's just lark around at a pool party ' here. Nilüfer states that the piece was about the concept of performance and the relation to the individual: “We are never really sure who is the real me. This is because we are all in a state of constant performance, whether that be in everyday life or being in front of a camera. Even when we are not performing, how do we know we are not performing? Which is the genuine and which is the fake? Only in retrospect we can look back and realise ‘I wasn’t being myself.” 

Maybe Sabrina did have those thoughts as she splashed around the beach balls and George perhaps pondered this concept as he sipped his cocktail? But even if they didn't the swimming pool (like the bath) certainly provides ample opportunity for the musician to conjure up all sorts of performance.

Nilüfer Yanya - Heavyweight Champion Of The Year (Video)

New Music: Nilüfer Yanya - Thanks 4 Nothing (Video)

One of the names on this year’s BBC Sound of 2018 longlist that surprised me a little was Nilüfer Yanya, because she just didn’t seem (from my perspective) to have had the same level of industry hype around her that some of the other acts that made the list had. However, there’s no doubt that she was there on merit; when I caught her at last year’s Great Escape Festival in Brighton she stood out because her music didn’t fit into one simple category (was it jazz, indie, soul, pop or something else entirely?) and her songs had a simplistic toned-down style that never seemed to desperate to be heard – it was almost as if you had to find them rather them find you. However, once you do discover them, they’re strangely captivating.

Nilüfer’s latest release is a video for her song Thanks 4 Nothing and strangely captivating is the term that applies here. Nilüfer takes the part of some sort of alien tarot reading cult leader, but most importantly to regular readers of Breaking More Waves SHE ENTERS THE MUSICIAN IN THE BATH CLUB, choosing the clothes on water in option. It's bonkers, but that's fine because it seems all musicians have such a yearning desire to get in the tub, and the rest of the video is equally bonkers.

Also nice use of the Prince style of writing 4 rather than for in the title here.

In summary: Great song, weird video. I approve.

Nilüfer Yanya - Thanks 4 Nothing (Video)