NIKI – ‘Buzz’ overview: heartbreak and therapeutic

An electrified hum opens ‘Buzz’ and, seconds later, NIKI makes its goal clear: “It’s the anticipation when the amps activate / Simply cables and crackle.” Because the title monitor of her third album unfolds, that line reveals itself as a metaphor for being on the sting of falling for somebody new, a super-sized crush turning your each nerve right into a dwell wire. There are moments on ‘Buzz’ which have the identical affect, filling the file with rushes of pleasure.

Because the Jakarta-born, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter signed with 88rising in 2017, she’s explored completely different expressions of her artistry. She tied up her tales in noirish R&B on her 2020 debut album ‘Moonchild’, and two years later, revisited some songs she’d written in her teen years by way of the saccharine pop of ‘Nicole’. Firstly of 2024, she shared the standalone single ‘24’, reflecting on the primary quarter-century of her life in a Joni Mitchell-indebted piece of hushed folk-pop.

Mitchell’s affect might be felt on ‘Buzz’ too – in addition to that of Sheryl Crow, Liz Phair and Fleetwood Mac. Right here, NIKI offers in hook-filled alt-rock, ‘Too A lot Of A Good Factor’ strutting on a ’60s pop bassline meaning enterprise, shuffling drums and a swooning guitar line weaving round it like they’re in a flirtatious dance. The riff of ‘Colossal Loss’ gives a buzzsaw accompaniment to her devilish descent into petty video games, whereas ‘Magnets’ strips issues again to create a mesmerising glacial drift.

‘Buzz’ is essentially the most superior its creator has ever sounded musically and lyrically – even when NIKI retains issues easy, writing like she’s cornered you within the lavatory on an evening out or is recapping relationship tales with the women over brunch. “No guys, I swear he’s not emotionally unavailable / He’s simply traumatised,” she protests on ‘Focus’, her defensive tone suggesting she is aware of her buddies are proper.

The hum of romantic risk may characterise a lot of NIKI’s third album, however it’s awash with heartbreak too. Between the coquetry and funky are wrenching vignettes from a wrecked relationship. ‘Take Care’ depicts the dividing up of a pair and their metropolis, and ‘Blue Moon’ realising what’s been misplaced. ‘Paths’ is most devastating of all, although, NIKI torn between accepting her destiny and holding onto hope for a future reunion: “My youth is in your previous / You’ll all the time have that / And although it didn’t final / I hope our paths cross once more.”

Regardless of the future holds for NIKI and wherever her musical explorations take her subsequent, ‘Buzz’ solidifies her place as one among music’s most incisive songwriters proper now. It’s an album filled with heady thrills and emotional lows that confirms, in case you’ve been sleeping on NIKI to this point, you possibly can now not accomplish that with out actually lacking out.

Particulars:

• Document label: 88rising
• Launch date: August 9, 2024