Nilüfer Yanya: 2019

West London’s Nilüfer Yanya is the daughter of two visual artists, but it’s her guitar and her husky, emotive voice that conjures rich images on her impressive debut album, Miss Universe.

On the basis of a handful of EPs and singles, Yanya was a 2018 NPR Slingshot artist and she was longlisted for the BBC’s Sound of 2018 poll of promising emerging artists — and that promise is realized on Miss Universe. Song by song, she threads together themes of a dystopian future and an unsettled present via tracks like “Paradise,” “Paralysed,” and “In Your Head.”

FUV first recorded Yanya in performance down at SXSW in 2018, but for her very first Studio A visit she brought along bandmates old and new, including her longtime friend, Jazzi Bobbi, on saxophone and synths. Nilüfer and I also discussed her work with Syrian refugees in Greece and her very creative family.

[Recorded: 2/4/19; Engineer: Jim O'Hara; Producer: Sarah Wardrop]