Thalia Hall: Nilüfer Yanya with Tasha and Ada Lea

Nilüfer Yanya announces her sophomore album, PAINLESS, out on March 4, 2022. The upcoming album has Yanya running headfirst into the depths of emotional vulnerability. It was recorded between a basement studio in Stoke Newington and Riverfish Music in Penzance (owned by her uncle Joe Dworniak a former bassist in funk band I Level), with Miss Universe collaborator and producer Wilma Archer, DEEK Recordings founder Bullion, Big Thief producer Andrew Sarlo, and musician Jazzi Bobbi.

Yanya began considering her second album back in 2020 after coming home from a year-long headline tour for her debut album. Where Miss Universe stretched musical boundaries to include a litany of styles from smooth jazz melodies to radio-ready pop, PAINLESS takes a more direct sonic approach. By narrowing down her previously broad palette to a handful of robust ideas that revolve around melancholy harmonies and looped industrial beats to mimic the insular focus of the lyrics, Yanya has smoothed out the idiosyncrasies of previous releases without losing what is essential to her.

PAINLESS is a record that forces the listener to sit with the discomfort that accompanies so many of life’s biggest challenges whether it be relationship breakdowns, coping with loneliness, or the search for our inner self.