GET TO KNOW: NIINA
FEATURES - MUSIC - GET TO KNOW
THURSDAY 8TH AUGUST 2024
WORDS BY LIAM TYLER
Today marks the release of niina's ambitious and feel-good debut album "Honestly, Does This Smell Off to You?", showcasing one of electronic music's most versatile emerging talents.
With tracks like the tongue-in-cheek garage banger "Limousine," co-produced by Kornél Kovács and DJ Carli, niina blends alt-pop with dance music, creating an empowering, confessional record that reflects her journey through mental health struggles and self-acceptance. Having crafted her sound in a London bedroom over nearly a decade, niina's unfiltered creativity has already made waves in the UK tastemaker circuit, with remixes for notable artists and a growing reputation in underground circles.
We caught up with niina to find out more about her debut album, her creative process, who 'Patrick' is, and more...
Congrats on the debut album. It has a unique title, 'honestly, does this smell off to you?'. What’s the story behind this title? *
Definitely unique haha. Originally I was looking at the collation of tracks and thinking about where I was at in life at the time, I asked myself the question: if I was going to be really honest with myself what is actually going on right now and how can I see that reflected in my writing? And honestly, it’s all just feeling a bit off…I found myself feeling like I’m not where I want to be and experiencing that very common feeling of being in your late 20s and feeling like I’ve failed in some way, I thought I’d have it all figured out by now but I really don’t! The title was a way of saying this but in a fun, conversational way.
Can you tell us more about the journey of creating your debut album 'honestly, does this smell off to you?'?
This album is a collection of songs from the past 2 years and I feel that the journey has very much been influenced by two things: the nomadic lifestyle I’ve been having, since moving out of London I haven’t really had a base so I’ve been floating between friends sofas in London, my parents place and Lisbon and I think that goes hand in hand with the fact that I’ve felt like i’m rediscovering myself and my identity as someone in their late 20s. Identity is a funny thing, just when you feel like you’ve found it, you lose it and have to re-discover yourself all over again. This album has been an exploration of that.
Who is 'Patrick' in your album’s visuals and what does he represent?
Patrick is a physical manifestation of the problems/monsters that often feel like they’re looming over us when we’re lost or alone or hurt. He’s a fucking menace but bringing him to life is my way of confronting him and making peace with the fact he’ll always be there but it doesn’t always have to be the end of the world.
What was it like to write, record, and produce your debut album
entirely from your bedroom?
Peaceful haha. Whilst I love to collaborate I think my happy place is being alone in my own space. I also really am a true believer in the idea that limitation causes creativity and travelling to new spaces and having limited equipment definitely helps me find new ways of being creative. Having said that, it’s all I’ve ever known so who knows what the future holds and how it affects my writing.
Tell us more about your creative process and how you approach making music?
As a creative director, I’m very visually stimulated in my approach to making music and will usually have some kind of visualisation of a concept floating around my head before sitting down to write something, it’s often subliminal but when I create an initial soundscape which I’ll think of colours, aesthetics and scenarios and I usually have a moment where i’m like ‘ah that’s where that comes from’. Something I’ve really discovered about myself lately is that getting bored and being alone all day is the best thing for inspiring a random idea.
I’ll usually sit down and pick random sounds until the soundscape or beat or lyric or whatever it is that day feels relevant.
What does self-acceptance mean to you, and how is it reflected in this album?
Self-acceptance and self-love is absolutely everything and it’s everything that I want to achieve in my project for both myself and my audience. Life is fucking hard and I’ve learnt that it’s virtually impossible to get through it without a bit of self-love.
My music is a way of loving myself, understanding myself and making space for myself. I hope that by sharing it, it gives the same for others - that’s all I want from this whole music/artist thing.
How has your sound evolved from your early EPs to your debut album?
I feel in previous EPs I’ve kept parts of myself at arm's length, I don’t mean this necessarily in a bad way I just feel that I wasn’t necessarily ready to show the whole of me to the world up until now and I’m really happy I did it that way round.
My previous EPs have been an exploration of my sound and identity and now, with my debut album, I feel I’m ready to be front and centre with my authentic, honest (also being another reason ‘honestly’ is in the album title).
That’s perhaps why this album has a lot more lyrics and performance in it. It's kind of like taking the filter off and just seeing what happens, the album being a product of that.
What message do you hope listeners take away from 'honestly, does this smell off to you?’?
Life is hard and the feeling of being lost and confused is a mutually shared thing so let’s just dance it off, have
a good time and ride the wave.
What’s been your favourite collaboration across your whole discography?
I loved collaborating with Willo, other than the fact she’s a genuinely kind person (which I think is the most important thing) she’s very talented and has such good energy and it just seemed to work seamlessly because of that.
What can fans expect from your debut headline show tonight at Rae’s, London?
All I want for myself and for fans is to have fun, have a dance, forget the woes of life for a second and have an excuse for a bit of silliness at the same time.
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