My Method Actor - Nilufer Yanya: Review

Review by Lav:

Nilufer Yanya is a British singer-songwriter who first caught my attention when the singles for her sophomore album Painless began to make the rounds online in 2022. While I wasn't head-over-heels for the resulting record at the time, it's one that's grown on me immensely in the time since, spearheaded by great tracks like stabilise, midnight sun, and her masterpiece the dealer. As a result, I was excited going into this record and it seemed like with each single Nilufer zeroed in closer and closer to a spectacularly dynamic sonic contrast. It's one that pays off on the resulting album even if My Method Actor gets off to a bit of a slow start. 

The album definitely needs to be tackled in two parts, but it's not because the first half is a complete wash or anything. Opener Keep On Dancing is more of a thesis statement than anything else. It's a start to the record that assures everyone that no matter what happens, Nulifer will keep dancing through the pain. It goes great with the next track Like I Say a single that stuck out to me for its great instrumental. The combination o stuttering drums with rotating percussion surrounding them and the eruption of muttering distortion on the chorus is excellent. It's a dirtier sound than I think a lot of Nilufer's contemporaries would be willing to engage with and the pieces all exist in great contrast with each other. 

Contrast is at the heart of the record. For the second half of the album, I'll talk more about how the instrumental supports that, but here I wanna point out the difference in thematic tone and instrumental sound. For example, I'll use Mutations, another single I liked a lot. Though it's thematically imprecise I've always interpreted it as an invitation to continue a harmful relationship because the harm has already been done, so you might as well enjoy the intimacy. That contrasts with the captivatingly understated singing of these catchy refrains and the gentle push and pull of the backing strings.  Binding is one of the longest and most patient songs on the record with lyrics about everything getting rapidly bigger faster and more expensive, leaving Nilufer in a deeper and deeper hole. The intensity of the words she's saying combined with the patient pace at which it unfolds is a pretty fascinating tightrope walk. 

Unfortunately, the first half also contains the only two tracks I'm not crazy about. The only single I didn't care for was Method Actor and I'm still not a fan. The song seems like it should speak a little more directly on the whole idea of the album and the crunchy guitar riff on the hook is one of the clumsier pieces of instrumentation on the record. Additionally, Read For Sun is another slow-developing cut but on that doesn't resolve in anywhere near as satisfying of a conclusion. 

But it's easy to overlook those tracks when you realize that the final 5 songs on the record make for one of the most spectacular runs I've heard on any album this year. It starts with Call It Love, which may be my favorite Nilufer song to date. It blew me away as a single with its understated first verse that builds dramatically up into a wiry instrumental bridge. It's kind of amazing just how impactful every single refrain is even with how gentle they're presented, it's a huge highlight. 

Two more singles pop up on the back half and they're both great. Made Out Of Memory may have the best vocal performance on the entire album, which is saying something. Nilufer gently glides the song between segments with her buttery smooth vocal flourishes and as electric guitar slides into the song on the hook it makes for a spectacular moment. The combination of cold synths and drums with warm strings and vocals gives this record a uniquely compelling sound palette. Nowhere is this more obvious than on the final single Just A Western, the most noctournal song on the album. It has these distant wailing synths that just drag across the song in the background and they contrast with this versatile array of strings in the foreground perfectly. Combined with yet another great vocal performance and the song sounds like a vivid, sun-kissed daydream that leaves me spellbound. 

The best deep cut on the entire album is Faith's Late. The combination of gentle sunny strings with this chilling drum machine and some of the softest vocals on the album is simply world-class. And it all culminates with Wingspan, a touching and understated finale that feels appropriately gentle for an album that's deployed a deft touch throughout. 

My Method Actor has its hiccups, but wow, with such a stunning second half of the album it's hard to hold anything against it. With her third record, Yanya hasn't just built on the momentum of her second, but also found a sonic blueprint that should help guide her through many many more great songs in the future. Her willingness to play with the grinding peaks of guitar distortion and the icy depths of synths and drum machines makes her sonic reach wider than many of her contemporaries. But at the end of the day, her gentle singing and evocative lyricism is just as important to what makes this album a triumph. My Method Actor lives up to the hype. 8/10

For more great singer-songwriter music check out my review of Cassandra Jenkins' My Light, My Destroyer