Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe
Critic Score
Based on 24 reviews
2019 Ratings: #129 / 805
User Score
Based on 742 ratings
2019 Rank: #138
Liked by 44 people
March 22, 2019 / Release Date
LP / Format
ATO / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
The Line of Best Fit
Each song feels like a trip into Yanya’s tangled psyche, each one vital to the whole narrative of the album like little short stories threaded together.
90
Clash

The singer-songwriter has created an astoundingly original piece of work; every track sends shivers down the spine, but hitting different vertebrae - sometimes the impact is measured and controlled, others it’s shocking and bold.

85
Under the Radar

Miss Universe is a hell of a debut, with Yanya proving herself a powerhouse of songwriting especially, not to mention her pristine vocals and unique guitar voice.

85
The 405

A joyful, intelligent and triumphant album from West London singer Nilüfer Yanya, Miss Universe eschews the usual rules associated with debut LPs and introduces a bold new voice to the musical landscape.

83
Pitchfork

The rapturous debut from the British singer-songwriter takes adventurous pop-rock crucibles to new heights with her illusory songwriting and stunning voice.

81
Paste

This is an emotionally multi-faceted album to luxuriate in. Whether you take solace in her sultry, rich voice, instrumentals that range from bubbly to rugged or become invested in her confessional storytelling, Nilüfer Yanya’s Miss Universe can be easily enjoyed during a night out or night in.

80
Evening Standard

Lyrically rich and rhythmically robust, Miss Universe is an ambitious debut from a rising star who is never going to play it safe.

80
Q Magazine
The West Londner's debut is startlingly intimate, full of soulful, jazzy echoes of a lonely city.
80
The Observer

This debut sees a decade of pent-up songwriting spilling out of the hilariously talented 23-year-old Londoner Yanya.

80
The Independent

Miss Universe is a brilliant collection of songs, an expansive melange of indie, jazz, pop and trip-hop that flits between a lo-fi sparseness and something The Strokes would play.

80
God Is in the TV

Miss Universe shows off all of her musical talent and having already released 3 EPs, this is a singer who understands her sound and is clearly staying true to the type of artist that she wants to be.

80
Mojo
Yanya's music calls to mind gritty jazz/rock griot King Krule, Sampha's contemplative street soul and her key teenage influences: Pixies, Winehouse and The Libertines. Her spiky guitar playing is confidently pushed to the front of the mix here.
80
Uncut
She crafts tightly coiled rock epics with just a few elements, sounding like The Strokes one minute, Liz Phair the next.
80
The Guardian

In between the mock adverts, Miss Universe throws up a ragged miscellany of styles – rackety alt-rock, radio-ready pop, saxophones that appear to have escaped from a Sade album, jagged left-field guitars, primitive drum machines and what sounds like an attempt to make the kind of 80s AOR ballad that’s popular with Magic Radio on a lo-fi, bedroom-bound budget – all blessed by the melodic facility already in evidence when Yanya made her debut.

80
Loud and Quiet

More and more songs spill out, 17 of them in all, each tarnished with sharp distinctive hooks and the nasal jazz-pop tooting of Yanya’s voice. It’s full of intrigue and playfulness, a careful but bolshie response to any pressures of expectation.

80
Exclaim!
Groove and melancholy exist simultaneously in Yanya's work, providing listeners with no single answer to the questions she poses.
80
The Skinny

What might you experience when you experience paradise? Perhaps it's something similar to Miss Universe.

80
DIY
It all sounds a little inconceivable on paper, but is tied together and brought to life by a singer-songwriter who evades pigeonholing - on purpose or accidentally, it doesn’t really matter - and provides a debut that’s all her own.
80
NME

A musical chameleon, Yanya’s debut album puts the extraordinary talent’s songwriting skills front and centre.

80
AllMusic

Yanya covers a wide breadth of styles and emotions here and even if it all doesn't hang together perfectly, Miss Universe is a fascinating debut that is reflective of the pressures we place on ourselves and others which all too often result in a striving but imperfect mess.

80
PopMatters

Big without the "bang", Miss Universe poignantly showcases the young talent Nilüfer Yanya coming into her own on her own terms.

75
Spectrum Culture

Much of the pleasure of Miss Universe resides in Yanya’s distinctive delivery of these lines: her voice is an aching, smoky, sardonic instrument that conveys the power of restraint. Even while her songs occasionally aspire to the epic or monumental, her singing never seems flashy.

60
The Irish Times
Debut from 23-year-old west Londoner is a solid introduction with plenty of ideas.
50
Crack Magazine

Miss Universe is consistent with Yanya’s diverse tastes and strong technical pedigree, but as a collection it feels unfocused and disjointed. There’s better work ahead of her.

musicmagpie55
93

Update: This album keeps growing on me. Yanya’s Allegorical narrative of self care and mental health is just so well done.

O this will be a good weekend for music. I did not realize this was going to be a concept album with such a tight narrative, but shiz darn it, she knocked it out of the park.

Nilüfer Yanya is going through a process of self-healing, and she personifies that sentiment through a futuristic spa treatment. The ultimate goal is to 'experience paradise,' yet ... read more

Space Vacation
91

Simply put; this is an amazing album.
That accent/voice is to die for. It makes me so insanely happy.

Please go listen to this if you haven't yet. This will be one of the crowning achievement blue ribbon albums out of the entirety of 2019.

I can't really say anything that isn't just me gushing--
Miss Universe is UPPER ECHELON and I love it more than anything else I have heard this year.
In Your Head is my new favourite track to come out this year also.

LPs like this make me excited for the ... read more

Host
80

she has such a pretty voice omgggggg

DrDuckQuack
80

A great debut that shows the potential she has as an artist. Sure it's a bit fragmented and scatterbrained but I like it this way. It feels like she had some cool ideas for different sounds and structures and committed herself to execute them on a really high level resulting in a project that feels idiosyncratically hers

xxxvinyl
95

The heartbroken musical persona of modern indie mastermind Nilufer Yanya, strangely enough, made her debut release romantic and about love, and actually works on her favour. This is amazing. I firstly was hesitant for the quantity of songs and interludes, but its truly an immersive experience. All songs are amazing.

Favourite Tracks: All (interludes not included, but most are amazing), but specially Angels, Melt and In Your Head

Least Favourite Tracks: None

Host
80

she has such a pretty voice omgggggg

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Track List

1Wway Health ™
0:58
76
2In Your Head
3:27
90
3Paralysed
4:26
81
4Angels
3:56
83
5Experience?
1:06
84
6Paradise
3:58
79
7Baby Blu
4:41
83
8Warning
0:21
68
9Heat Rises
3:26
81
10Melt
4:22
86
11“Sparkle” GOD HELP ME
1:31
83
12Safety Net
4:32
81
13Tears
3:16
80
14Monsters Under the Bed
4:12
74
15The Unordained
3:22
73
16Give Up Function
0:41
78
17Heavyweight Champion of the Year
4:42
87
Total Length: 53 minutes
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Added on: January 22, 2019