When London singer/songwriter Nilüfer Yanya made her full-length debut following a string of well-received singles and EPs, it was with Miss Universe, an eclectic concept album painted with bold, high-contrast strokes and a few passing moments of intimate impressionism. Three years later, the follow-up, PAINLESS, is a more soft-spoken outing lost in rumination and more-candid emotion. It was recorded with Miss Universe producer Wlima Archer (aka Slime), Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Nick Hakim), indie electronic/art-pop artist Bullion, and musician Jazzi Bobbi, all of whom had a hand in producing. Yanya opens the nonetheless even-keeled album with a rhythmically propulsive meditation on how the linear nature of life and death intertwines with the cyclical passing of seasons ("the dealer"). Its wispy, multi-tracked vocals are set against thumping drums and deep, grooving bass, while harmonized guitar riffs provide the track's meaty center. The song's relatively straightforward arrangement and mix is later contrasted by songs like "L/R" and "the mystic" that play with stereo effects, and "trouble," which ends in layers of melodic distortion over thumping beats, one of several brief excursions into noise here. The midtempo, rhythmically loping "midnight sun" is a standout for its slowly developing guitar patterns, which provide more of a backbone for the song than its rhythmic section. There is little quality distinction, however, between tracks on an album that remains thoughtful, sonically overcast, and quietly trippy throughout, even on the galloping "stabilize," in which a spookily multi-tracked Yanya repeatedly insists "I'm going nowhere" ("until it bleeds"). If PAINLESS is less ambitious and attention-grabbing than her debut, it sees Yanya makes strides in being more affecting. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi

1		The Dealer
2		L/R
3		Shameless
4		Stabilise
5		Chase Me
6		Midnight Sun
7		Trouble
8		Try
9		Company
10		Belong With You
11		The Mystic
12		Anotherlife

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