Nilüfer Yanya, London’s 23 year-old has today shared her stunning new single “Heavyweight Champion of the Year“, alongside with a brand new video.
“Heavyweight Champion of the Year” was co-produced by Nilüfer herself, and live band members saxophonist Jazzi Bobbi and bassist Luke Bower. The single is out now on ATO Records/PIAS and precedes Nilüfer’s run of huge shows supporting Interpol which begins on 14 November at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall.
Watch below the video for new single.
The new release comes from a place of introspection, with Nilüfer describing the track, “‘Heavyweight Champion…’ for me is about reaching my own metaphorical bar, reaching my own limits within myself, and kind of forbidding myself to take it further. It feels like quite a physical song, quite physically tired – and mentally, but knowing the desire is still there to continue. I imagine it sometimes in my head as drawing a line around me and the outside world – a form of self protection and preservation.”
The video for “HCOTY” is directed by ENERGYFORCE, with Nilüfer explaining, “The video is about the concept of performance and the relation to the individual. We are never really sure who is the real me.” She continues, “This is because we are all in a state of constant performance, whether that be in everyday life or being in front of a camera. Even when we are not performing, how do we know we are not performing? Which is the genuine and which is the fake? Only in retrospect we can look back and realise ‘I wasn’t being myself’ or ‘I was completely myself’.”
This November, Nilüfer will head out on the road with Interpol across the United Kingdom and Europe, taking in two nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 14 & 15 November before Manchester, Dublin, Hamburg, Copenhagen and more, culminating in a show at Paris’ La Salle Pleyel on 29 November. Nilüfer has also just announced a run of North American tour dates with Sharon Van Etten throughout February 2019. See Nilüfer Yanya at the following live dates:
14 November | Royal Albert Hall, London*
15 November | Royal Albert Hall, London*
16 November | O2 Apollo, Manchester*
18 November | Olympia Theatre, Dublin*
19 November| Olympia Theatre, Dublin*
23 November | Mehr! Theater, Hamburg*
24 November | TAP1, Copenhagen*
25 November | Tempodrom, Berlin*
27 November | Tivoli Vredenburg , Utrecht*
28 November | Forest National, Brussels*
29 November | La Salle Pleyel, Paris*
7 February | Union Transfer, Philadelphia^
8 February | Royale, Boston^
9 February | Beacon Theatre, New York City^
11 February | Danforth Music Hall, Toronto^
13 February | Majestic Theatre, Detroit^
18 February | Gothic Theatre, Englewood^
22 February | The Imperial, Vancouver^
23 February | Neptune Theatre, Seattle^
26 February | The Filmore, San Francisco^
28 February | The Observatory North Park, San Diego^
29 April | Les Nuits Botanique Festival, Brussels, Belgium
*with Interpol
^with Sharon Van Etten
Nilüfer Yanya “Heavyweight Champion of the Year” out now via ATO Records/PIAS.