Indie-rock singer Nilüfer Yanya shared her latest EP today, titled ‘Feeling Lucky?’, which follows her incredible 2019 debut album ‘Miss Universe’. With only three tracks, the EP is an insight into Yanya’s year.
Beginning with lead single ‘Crash‘, the collection is launched into distorted guitar and drums which clearly portray the song’s title, with the lyrics, “If you ask me one more question, I’m about to crash.” The track was produced by Nick Hakim and made an appearance on the Radio 1 show Future Sounds With Annie Mac as her Hottest Record in the World on the day of its release.
Speaking directly to Annie Mac on the radio show, Nanya discussed her writing process: “I started writing it last year and it was a pretty busy year for me. I was just touring a lot, playing lots of shows – I think I actually started writing it on the road which I don’t normally ever do, so that was a first.”
As a whole, ‘Feeling Lucky?’ explores themes of good, bad, and the unpredictability of both. Yanya said in a press release, “One of the songs had the theme of luck in it as a concept but then I realised they all do. That got me thinking about luck in general; good and bad.”
These themes are continued on ‘Same Damn Luck’, co-written by Will Archer, which sees the artists singing about a break up with some surprising comparisons to the current restrictions in the UK due to Covid-19. For example, “News, all bad news lately/Every single time that you called and said/”Girl, stay in, they all knew, they all knew/I told you, I told.” The music video for ‘Same Damn Luck’ was also released today to coincide with the EP.
According to a press release, the singer had this to say about the song: “I hadn’t quite escaped what I thought I previously had. A personal reminder in the form of a pop ballad that the past is never that far away and will regularly come back to haunt you.”
The last song of the EP is ‘Day 7.5093′, taking a groovy approach to the instrumental with a walking bass line and a chorus consisting entirely of the word “Yeah” sung repetitively in Yanya’s intriguing breathy voice. Its first appearance was in July when it was performed live on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert which Yanya took part in. It was later released on Bandcamp in October for only 24 hours for the Good Music To Avert The Collapse of American Democracy Comp.
