Nilüfer Yanya, Photograph by Molly Daniel
If fashion choices are any indicator, Nilüfer Yanya’s fanbase is a broad church.
At the London musician’s first show in Melbourne/Naarm in over six years, scraggly haired rockers rubbed shoulders with young folks in tank tops and low-rise jeans and indie heads in paisley and polka dots.
Sydney/Gadigal based artist Gazal – who sold her ticket to see Yanya after getting the tap on the shoulder to open the tour – was a solid choice of support act. The set veered between grimey, hip-shaking rhythms and ethereal electro-pop sounds. Gazal was at her most self-assured during tougher, more dancefloor-oriented tracks “Ur A Dog” and “Piggie”.
Moody blue lights and a ghostly synth drone set the scene for Nilüfer Yanya and band to walk on stage. Opening with “Method Actor” followed by “L/R”, Yanya’s soulful vocals, made even thicker by her strong London accent, sat above a tasteful rhythm section. The band’s shoegazey stage presence suited their sultry sound. The audience was captivated by Yanya’s delivery while getting into a trance-like groove.
After standout track “Like I Say (I runaway)”, “trouble” ushered in a run of slower songs, with saxophonist, backing vocalist and sound wizard Jazzi Bobbi shining bright throughout. Yanya’s touring guitarist was also brilliant, running the gamut of acoustic arpeggiation, dreamy soundsapes and searing riffs, depending on the demands of each song.
The energy levels lifted with “Ready for Sun (touch)” before building to a climax with the Bloc Party-esque “Stabilise”. The audience’s cries for more were answered with an encore that featured a raucous cover of PJ Harvey’s “Rid of me.” “Midnight sun,” from Yanya’s 2022 album PAINLESS, closed out the set.
Much of Nilüfer Yanya’s live show was straight out of the mid-2000s indie rock playbook, with electronic textures underpinning dynamic buildups that gave way to cathartic releases. However, the London musician’s penchant for earworms that are reminiscent of millennial R&B, set against growling drop-d guitar sounds, distinguish her as a compelling voice that defies easy categorisation.
The true highlight of Yanya’s Melbourne was not any one single moment but the collective energy shared by a crowd of music lovers of varying stripes and tastes, dancing and swaying as one.
Nilüfer Yanya performed at 170 Russell, on the stolen land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, on Thursday 19 February.
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