Nilüfer Yanya formally announces her new album My Method Actor, out September 13 on Ninja Tune. The news arrives alongside the release of her new single, the near-title track ‘Method Actor’, and follows her recent single ‘Like I Say (I runaway)’. Putting herself in an unnamed character’s shoes, ‘Method Actor’ portrays a mini-life story in under four minutes. The accompanying visualiser was shot in an old hotel in Benidorm, Spain and is a one take video capturing Nilüfer sitting down to share the song’s story.
Speaking about ‘Method Actor’ Nilüfer describes how the concept for the song came together, “I was researching method acting – and from what I read, it’s based on finding this one memory in your life, a life-altering, life-changing memory. The reason why some people find method acting traumatic and maybe not safe mentally, is because you’re always going back to that moment. It can be good or bad but you’re always feeding off the energy, something that’s defined you – and that’s what helps you become the character. It’s a bit like being a musician. When you’re performing, you’re still trying to invoke the energy and emotion of when you first wrote it, in that moment. It definitely feels like you’re having to recreate or step into that headspace.”
As a whole, Nilüfer Yanya’s third album asks questions with no easy answers. It is a supple, expansive body of work that peers into the crevices of life, exploring them with comforting strings, skittering beats, soul-tinged melodies and swooning harmonies. It asks, who are we? Why do we follow the paths we follow? What is at the heart of it all?
My Method Actor:
- Keep On Dancing
- Like I Say (I runaway)
- Method Actor
- Binding
- Mutations
- Ready for Sun (touch)
- Call It Love
- Faith’s Late
- Made Out Of Memory
- Just A Western
- Wingspan