Interview by Annie Hamilton

With her hazy blend of lo-fi textures, haunting vocals and her singular guitar style, London-based artist Nilüfer Yanya has carved out a lane that’s taken her from cult indie icon to sharing stages with the likes of Lorde, Alex G, Mitski and The XX.

Ahead of her upcoming Australian tour dates, Nilüfer sat down with Eora/Sydney-based artist Annie Hamilton to chat all things touring and writing.

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Annie: First up, you just supported Lorde for a bunch of shows around Europe - so wild! How was it?

Nilüfer: It was so good… It was only five shows, so we were only on tour for eight days. The last support we did was Alex G, which was six weeks, so it was kind of like, a mini nice way to be like, 'yay, last tour for the year!’... It's massive, like a whole different feeling and energy and vibe. Ella was so nice and the whole crew was so nice, and seeing someone do their thing at that level and stage, and like… that kind of cult following, it's a different world. Yeah, I was inspired.

Annie: So sick. Are they the biggest shows you’ve done?

Nilüfer: Yeah, they’re definitely the biggest. I've done a couple of those venues before because we opened for Roxy Music a few years ago. But it's so scary to do it again, and it's definitely not what we’re used to.

Annie: Do you feel like it changes the way you approach putting the live show together or the way you perform?

Nilüfer: You know, sometimes you think you need to change everything for a bigger room or a different room. But then you see other people doing stuff on stage and you're like, oh, they're just treating it like another gig. And at the end of the day, that's how you have to treat it, I think. It'd be different if I was gonna do an arena tour - I would think about it differently - but because we're opening it's like, okay, we're just gonna do our thing.

Annie: The thing that I love about your music is the balance of restraint and intensity. It feels subdued, but then it has this underlying growl and grit and moments where the production feels massive. And the shapes of your melodies and guitar work, woven into these really beautiful kinda wispy ethereal vocals - every time I hear one of your songs, it feels so distinctly you, like instantly. You have such a sound. I wanted to ask, have you ever felt pressure - whether from external sources or from your own self-doubt - to stray from it?

Nilüfer: Yes and no... I find it interesting, because you know, when you're writing a song, you're like, 'Yeah, this song is so me'. When it comes to making an album, that's what I get really excited about - finding more of those songs that are very connected to me and just feel like extensions of different songs that I've written in the past. Like it fits perfectly into your world, but then you have the opportunity to bring what you're excited about in production to it and make it of its time, and current for you.

And then there are songs which are like total experiments… You just want to write a song, finish it, and then think, do I like it? I didn't really like Cold Heart but the label really liked it and it did really well… So I'm like, okay, that was an experiment - I don’t feel bad that I made it.

Annie: So when you don't really like something but the label does, are you happy to release it just to see what happens, or do you put your foot down?

Nilüfer: I wouldn't ever make a whole album like that. If they were like, 'Yeah, make more songs like this', I'd be like, 'No, I literally can't.' I don't have the desire to repeat it, but it feels like a happy mistake sometimes - like okay, it hasn't harmed me and it’s cool to make things, but we're not playing it live. You can draw a line.

Annie: What’s your approach when creating an album? Do you tend to focus on one song at a time, or write a bunch and pick your favourites?

Nilüfer: Our process was kind of like - get a few ideas to a decent place and then really go in on them, and then hopefully while you're doing that a couple of other ideas will appear, and then really go in on them…

We actually had one less song and then the label was like, ‘you need another song on this record because it's too short.’ So we had to write another song, which was actually one of my favorite songs. So I'm glad we did that.

Annie: Do you write while you're touring?

Nilüfer: I would like to one day get touring to a stage where you can comfortably have days in between where you're like, I'm just gonna write stuff and be creative… It makes sense, because you're in different cities and you could have sessions and meet people. But at the moment, touring is like - you hit the ground running, and then you just have to go from one place to the next and carry all this stuff and you're just driving. It's not inspiring in that way for me. There's never any time to even think about writing.

Annie: When you’re not on tour, do you ever take time off and actually step away, or are you always creating?

Nilüfer: I try to wind down, but as you're winding down, it's like… you kind of get this urge to do something because it feels weird to just totally detach.

I would like to just write some stuff by myself, but I don't want to rush into another record. I love the process of making music, so I really want to take my time. I don't necessarily want to get wrapped up in another deadline campaign situation, there's no rush. Everyone feels like there's a rush to get to the next thing. And I just feel like… there's so much I feel like I need to do. I could take more time in-between projects so I could learn more and develop more.

Annie: I love that, it’s so easy to fall into the trap of ‘maintaining momentum’ without actually allowing time and space for the art to form. Do you find the concept of the blank canvas anxiety-inducing?

Nilüfer: You know, I've been so terrified in the past, but I think, okay, if I get really stuck, I have people that I can work with - like, me and Will [Archer] can write a song together if I feel like I have no ideas.

But I would love to allow the feeling of the blank canvas to terrify me enough, to the point where I can just come up with a bunch of ideas by myself and then bring it to somebody like Will… With the last record, I was like, it will come, it will come. And then it didn't. Me and Will made the whole album together, and that was a beautiful process, and I would just love to feel like I've learned things from that, so I can somehow push myself off at the start, and then bring people in.

Annie: Do you feel like every time you make an album you learn a bit more about how to make an album or do you feel like every time you're like, 'how do I do that again?’

Nilüfer: A bit of both… I know how to make it sound and look like an album now, but like, do I actually know how to make one? I don't know.

Annie: I always wonder, like, does anyone? Even people who have been doing it for, like, 50 years, does anyone know how to make an album? Does anyone ever get the feeling of like, 'Oh yeah, I know how to do this'.

Nilüfer: You can really make it however you want. I don't like when people are like, 'Oh, it's an album - so where's your mood board? Or like, what are the themes?’ And it's like, are we really going to do that? Are we going to treat it like a high school project? The next time I go into an album, I’m gonna ask myself, like, what do I want it to be?

Annie: It feels like the music industry is so obsessed with singles these days, it feels special to make an album.

Nilüfer: Yeah, I mean, it'd be fun to maybe just do a single every six weeks, but even if I did, I feel like you kind of end up making it into an EP or an album anyway. It's nice to go away and work on a bigger project. I'm not gonna just start churning out singles.

Annie: I think if you see it as a body of work, you have all the different spaces you can fill and extremes to explore within it.

Nilüfer: Yeah, and I guess I'm lucky in a way because now people are like, 'When's the next album?’, and I’m like, ‘You think of me as an album person? Thank you!'... I have friends signed to labels who just want them to put out singles. I can imagine that's quite annoying to hear as an artist. I see myself as an album person.

Annie: I'm also such an album person. I just love the space to tell a story and build a world. One last question - are you excited to come back to Australia? Last time you were here we both played at Fairgrounds festival.

Nilüfer: Yes! I'm really excited to come back. Hahaha I remember that festival - I remember there were loads of flies everywhere!

Annie: Yep, that sounds like Australian summer. Lots of bugs!

NILÜFER YANYA 2026 AUSTRALIA TOUR

Tue 17 Feb - Liberty Hall - Sydney [TIX HERE]

Thu 19 Feb - 170 Russell - Melbourne [TIX HERE]

Fri 20 Feb - Perth Festival - Perth [TIX HERE]

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