London breakout star Nilüfer Yanya just unveiled her sophomore album Painless last week, following up her successful 2019 debut Miss Universe and two EPs since then, 2020’s Feeling Lucky? and last September’s Inside Out. She celebrated the record release with an enticing performance on Radio Nova, a French radio station. The intimate session consists of “Anotherlife,” “Chase Me,” “The Dealer,” “Stabilise,” “Belong With You,” and “Midnight Sun.” It’s just her singing and playing the guitar along with a backing vocalist, as well as Jazzi Bobbi on the synth and, for “The Dealer,” on the saxophone.
Painless was announced back in November with the eerie, brooding “Stabilise” as the lead single. She stated that the song was “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.” The heaviness of this song and the strong desire to be free are evident in her emotional delivery in this session.
Watch the performance above.