Ahead of the release of her album ‘My Method Actor’ this Friday on Ninja Tune, Nilüfer Yanya shares her new single and music video “Just a Western”.
The single comes alongside a video shot by Molly Daniel featuring Nilüfer against the dry Spanish desert landscape. Speaking on the track’s tone Nilüfer shares, “The melody feels freeing to me, but the lyrics are ‘there’s no way in, no way out’ and the concept is about facing your fate. I don’t know if I believe in fate but it feels real in the song.”
The final single upon the release of the full album out this Friday, “Just a Western” follows the near title track “Method Actor”, which The Guardian supported as the lead single in their weekly playlist alongside praise from NME, Crack Magazine and The Face. “Like I Say (I runaway)”, followed shortly after, which gained support from the likes of Clash, Loud & Quiet and Dork, with Rolling Stone calling it “mesmerizing” and being tipped as one of their Best Songs of 2024. “Like I Say (I runaway)” and “Method Actor” have both been A-listed at BBC 6 Music and added to the playlist at BBC Radio 1, as well as her new track “Made Out of Memory” being Hottest Record on BBC R1 with Jack Saunders.
On the forthcoming album songs bloomed into being in unexpected ways helping Yanya 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. “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.” Her lyrics are specific and hazy at once, and sometimes surreal: she talks about the songs as though she’s trying to decipher the person she was when she wrote them.
‘My Method Actor’ follows Nilüfer’s previous albums ‘PAINLESS’ and ‘Miss Universe’, which were met with an overwhelming amount of critical praise. Nilüfer performed celebrated singles on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Stephen Colbert, Later with Jools Holland and NPR’s legendary Tiny Desk concert series. She’s supported Adele, the XX and Mitski on tour, headlined London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire and sold out shows across Europe, Australia, Japan and the USA. Yanya has also been remixed by Sampha, King Krule and Little Dragon and has collaborated with Bombay Bicycle Club and Liss. Nilüfer is a founding member of the community project Artists In Transit which takes creative workshops and other support to displaced communities and people in times of hardship.
Pre-save/order ‘My Method Actor’ and listen to “Just a Western” above, find touring details below.
EU & UK Dates
24/11 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique Orangerie
25/11 – Amsterdam, NE @ Melkweg Old Hall – SOLD OUT
26/11 – Berlin, GE @ Kesselhaus
28/11 – Paris, FR @ La Bellevilloise – SOLD OUT
29/11 – Paris, FR @ La Bellevilloise – SOLD OUT
30/11 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
2/12 – Bristol, UK @ Fleece – SOLD OUT
3/12 – London, UK @ HERE at Outernet
4/12 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
5/12 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 2
North America Dates
28/9 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
30/9 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
1/10 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
2/10 – Boston, MA @ Royale
4/10 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe
5/10 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
6/10 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
7/10 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
9/10 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
10/10 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
11/10 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
13/10 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck
15/10 – Denver, CO @ Meow Wolf
18/10 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre
19/10 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
20/10 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
22/10 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
24/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre
‘My Method Actor’ Tracklist:
1. Keep On Dancing
2. Like I Say (I runaway)
3. Method Actor
4. Binding
5. Mutations
6. Ready for Sun (touch)
7. Call It Love
8. Faith’s Late
9. Made Out Of Memory
10. Just A Western
11. Wingspan
