“There’s sort of this ingrained sense of perfectionism in me,” NIKI says of growing up in an Asian household. This pressure to constantly be “the strong girl” manifested in her most recent album, ‘Nicole,’ on which the singer-songwriter explored her folk-pop roots. For her latest release, ‘Buzz,’ NIKI sought to rediscover the joy and excitement of making music. The album’s buoyant indie pop is a testament to the hard-earned anticipation NIKI feels as she embarks on a new chapter in her career.
The title track, ‘Buzz,’ is a prime example of this fresh perspective, with its feathery, upbeat chorus “The song’s about to start / The door’s about to open.” But this excitement didn’t come easily. Following the exhausting experience of touring ‘Nicole’ and reinventing her sound, NIKI found herself feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. To pull herself out of this slump, she wrote ‘Strong Girl,’ which urges listeners to embrace their strength in the face of adversity.
NIKI’s journey to this point has been anything but straightforward. Since moving to the United States from Indonesia at 18, she has evolved musically, crossing genres from ’90s-influenced R&B on her 2018 EP ‘Zephyr’ to conceptual pop on ‘Moonchild’. Despite the varied nature of her output, NIKI always seeks to inject her music with authenticity and honesty.
This pursuit of musicality is central to ‘Buzz.’ NIKI worked with producers Ethan Gruska and Tyler Chester, who encouraged her to focus on the musicianship and live potential of each song. The result is an album filled with colorful flourishes and astute chronicles of love and loss. ‘Nothing Can,’ the album’s quietly hopeful closer, captures the essence of ‘Buzz’: finding joy and hope in the midst of suffering.
As NIKI prepares to embark on a world tour in support of ‘Buzz,’ she’s feeling more confident and authentic than ever before. “I feel awake for the first time,” she says. With this album, NIKI has rediscovered her passion for making music and charted a course that feels true to who she is as an artist
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