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| (press photo, credit: Annie Lai; courtesy of NIKI/88rising) |
Jakarta-born, LA-based singer-songwriter NIKI revealed a new single titled “Blue Moon.” It follows the announcement of her upcoming album Buzz out August 9 via 88rising and flirtatious lead single “Too Much Of A Good Thing.”
"Blue Moon" was penned by NIKI during her 2023 Nicole World Tour, in the aftermath of a four-year relationship that felt like home but suddenly fell apart. A Blue Moon in astrology is a cosmic rarity, often linked to heightened clarity. It's fitting, then, that NIKI taps into this energy, sharing her experience with vulnerability and openness.
NIKI says "I wrote Blue Moon lamenting the slow, then sudden demise of a truly significant relationship. It’s about the deepest and rarest of loves we might stumble upon (once in the bluest of moons, if we’re lucky), and then realizing we’d stumbled upon it too early for it to stand a chance. It’s that classic trope of right person, wrong time."
Like lead single "Too Much Of A Good Thing", "Blue Moon" is co-produced with close friend and collaborator Ethan Gruska. In addition to vocals, NIKI contributed drums, guitar, and piano.The song also features heart-wrenching violin, viola, and string arrangement from legendary multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose - known for his work with Bon Iver, The National, St. Vincent, and many more.
The accompanying music video directed by Ivana Bobic combines the moody undertones of NIKI’s lyrics with a scene reminiscent of the flying house in The Wizard Of Oz. While writing the song, NIKI held The Wizard of Oz in mind when imagining "the cruelest cyclone" throwing the circumstances around the relationship into chaos.
NIKI also recently performed the album's lead single “Too Much of a Good Thing” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Watch the video HERE.
In celebration of the forthcoming album, NIKI will embark on her biggest tour to date spanning 41 markets in North America, Europe, the UK, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. A full list of tour dates and tickets are available HERE.
What eventually became Buzz, the third studio album by singer-songwriter and globally-renowned star NIKI, started with an urgent quake from the innermost core of her being. What surfaced in its wake was a collection of warm, stirring folk-rock songs, which crackle and flare like a bonfire between close confidantes. “I went through an identity crisis,” says the 25-year-old of Buzz. “It took a lot of trial and error, and I just stumbled upon pieces of myself along the way. I named it Buzz because it feels like I'm on the precipice of something about to happen.”
For NIKI, things have been happening progressively since she was a high schooler in Jakarta, Indonesia. As a student at an international academy, she cut her teeth scribbling lovesick poems in English class and performed acoustic guitar covers of American pop songs on YouTube. With a six-string in hand, and her family and classmates cheering her on from the audience, Nicole Zefanya then staked her claim to global stardom as NIKI.
And claim it she has - with over three billion streams worldwide, sold out shows on multiple continents, massive sets at festivals across the globe, front row seats at Paris Fashion Week, four songs on a Marvel film’s soundtrack, and some of the most phenomenal, confessional songs being released in 2024, NIKI has already established a veteran’s resume before the age of 25.
On Buzz, her songwriting remains as intimate as ever. In her initial sketches of songs for Buzz, NIKI took cues from other lane-paving women with confessional, honest lyricism soundtracked by guitars. “Joni Mitchell is my songwriting north star,” she says — and uncompromising feminist luminaries like Stevie Nicks, Carly Simon and Liz Phair. To match the wandering spirit of Buzz, NIKI cultivated her own elastic approach to guitar.
To further harness this creative and personal sea change, NIKI began enlisting producers who had worked with her favorite contemporary singer-songwriters. She tapped Tyler Chester, who’d captured tracks with Madison Cunningham and Sara Bareilles; she also recruited Ethan Gruska, who counts Fiona Apple and Phoebe Bridgers as collaborators.
Buzz reverberates with the hard-earned wisdom of a young woman who charges dauntlessly towards her dreams — but can still spare a laugh if she stumbles.
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