NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
Nilüfer Yanya, the Turkish/Irish singer/songwriter from London, is not to be pigeonholed into a specific musical genre. She can be anywhere from indie rock to jazz to bossanova to soul. Whatever you want to call it, it’s music that I could listen to anytime and anywhere, something that I can’t say about most artists. For me, her eminently listenable music creates a very specific mood that sits squarely with Men I Trust and Cannons, both have leads with light gentle vocals; the first more jazz oriented and the latter more dance while Yanya has a more soulful vibe. Having just released her third studio album “My Method Actor” in early September, Yanya embarked on a headlining tour across North America last week. On Saturday, October 5th, she stopped by the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto.
The first opener was Eliza McLamb from North Carolina. She released her debut album “Going Through It” in January of this year and her indie rock with a hint of country was a nice way to set the tone for the evening. It was her last show of the tour with Nilüfer Yanya so we were lucky to catch her.
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The second opener was alt-rock artist Lutalo, whose debut LP “The Academy” was released just a month ago. As with many artists these days, his music defies the pigeonhole of a specific genre so, although I called him an alt-rock artist, he really has a mixture of various genres if you listen to his album. If McLamb was a bit too upbeat, Lutalo definitely set the mood for Yanya.
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Nilüfer Yanya took the stage in dim lighting, dressed in a beautiful full pant suit, which you don’t see that much nowadays with young female artists. She kicked off her set with the title track off her new record “Method Actor”. It’s a great song which kicks off with a bit of a bossanova beat and has that relaxed dance beat, that is until she hits us with that killer fuzz guitar. What a great intro with an amazing song but I was there to have Yanya tug at my heart strings with those slow burners. Her set was a mix of mostly songs from “My Method Actor” and her second studio album “Painless” plus a couple of other songs and a cover for good measure. The highlight, for me, was the one-two punch of “Call It Love” and “Binding” in the middle of the set. Those two songs, played with the light low, understated instrumentals and Yanya’s soulful alto, hits you right where it hurts. The harmonies on “Call It Love” are just so beautiful. Throughout the set, whenever the saxophone was being played, the crowd cheered! The alto sax wasn’t used for crazy solos but just added to the moodiness of the room. Two things I love about Yanya: first is the amazing way she flips back and forth between chest voice and head voice with such smooth transitions. Second is how she hugs her guitar when she’s singing but not playing. The set was way too short and, even though I didn’t exit the venue until around midnight, I could have stayed and listened to her for so much longer. Nilüfer Yanya has some more shows in North America before she embarks on her EU/UK tour in November. Catch her on tour if you get the chance. She’s really wonderful!
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