Nilüfer Yanya shares transformative new single ‘Mutations’

14 August, 2024

Nilüfer Yanya. Credit: Molly Daniel

Nilüfer Yanya has shared the transformative new single ‘Mutations’ from her forthcoming album ‘My Method Actor‘.

Opening with an energetic bass and drum beat and centred around Yanya’s deep and airy vocal delivery, ‘Mutations’ sees the singer sing: “Old sensation / Don’t let them in / Let go, hold that vision / Hung up, I’m headed for your / Condemnation / Wait up, I’m heading for your / Complications / Your mutations,” describing experiences that have subtly transformed and shaped her.

Speaking about the track in a press release, Yanya shared: “‘Mutations’ deals with change brought about by circumstance. This is not the phoenix rising from the ashes but the subtle change that happens constantly as millions of tiny decisions and actions shape your being.

“It’s kind of like survival, for me,” she continued. “Less of a transformation and more something that’s born out of your environment and surroundings, that you need to do to survive. Mutation is just something you have to go through- you have to evolve.”

The song’s accompanying visualiser was directed by Yanya’s sister, Molly Daniel, and features snippets of the singer while walking on the streets and beaches of Spain.

‘Mutations’ is the fourth single to be shared from Yanya’s upcoming album ‘My Method Actor’. It follows the previously released ‘Call It Love’, ‘Like I Say (I Runaway)’ and the lead single ‘Method Actor‘. The LP is set for release on September 13 via Ninja Tune and can be pre-ordered / pre-saved here.

It marks the London musician’s third studio record and was produced by Wilma Archer, known for his work with Sudan Archives, MF DOOM and Celeste. According to a press release, the songs on the album served as a way to help the singer “make sense of her world and the ways it’s changing as she enters her late twenties and grapples with what it means to be an established musician.”

Speaking about the creation of ‘My Method Actor’, Yanya said: “For me, writing is definitely problem-solving – in the way they say that dreaming is like problem-solving. You’re like, oh, that sounds good. That looks good. That makes sense. But you don’t really know why. You’re kind of using that part of your creative brain that doesn’t have to make sense.”

The album follows her 2022 LP ‘Painless‘. In a three-star review of the LP, NME wrote: “Even if ‘Painless’ occasionally settles into a consistent, thudding groove at times, when Yanya goes full pelt, she’s at her very best.”

In other news, Yanya is set to embark on a UK, European and North American tour, which will run from September to December. Kicking off in Philadelphia on September 28, it will eventually see her play shows in Brighton, Bristol, London and Nottingham, before wrapping up in Manchester on December 5.

Visit here to purchase UK, European and US tickets and check out a full list of dates here.

Last year saw Yanya team up with Bombay Bicycle Club on the song ‘Meditate’ from the band’s latest album ‘My Big Day’. She was praised by NME for adding a “personable touch” to the song.

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