NIKI revives songs from her YouTube channel for new album ‘Nicole’

Indonesian singer-songwriter NIKI released her highly anticipated album “Nicole” on Friday.

The album contains 12 songs in total and features three previously released ones: “Before,” “Oceans and Engines” and “High School in Jakarta.” The entire album was written by NIKI and notably acts as a showcase of original songs she took down from her YouTube channel, previously named nzee24, after being signed.

In a reflective Instagram post from May, the Los Angeles-based artist wrote, “Many of you were disappointed when I took those videos down. Transparently, I think I was just running from myself for a while. But sitting with myself through the pandemic forced some kind of reckoning to occur and I re-evaluated what I actually value and yearn for in life, music included.”

“Long story short: am now sauntering back to where I’ve always wanted to be musically!” she continued. “Some of you won’t like it – I understand! Some of you will – I’m stoked for you to hear it! Regardless, I always felt high school Nic deserved to have her songs published.”

She went on to say that she has re-recorded those old works and reimagined them for the present. “I have quietly been re-recording & reimagining some of these songs that I still adore to this day!” she wrote. “The first half of the album will feature both new and archived songs no one’s ever heard before, and the latter half will feature my personal favorite originals that used to live on nzee24.”

“This project is without a doubt my most favorite thing I have ever made as an artist. It’s where younger me and current me meet and hang and have a f*cking blast together. No words adequately convey how stupid proud I am of it and every part surrounding it,” she added.

Coinciding with the new album release is the premiere of the short film, “But I’m Letting Go,” which stars NIKI and Peter Adrian Sudarso and includes an original score by NIKI and Jacob Ray.

The film debuted in Los Angeles on Monday, was shown in New York on Wednesday and will be screened in Jakarta on Saturday. A wide digital release will be available on Amazon Music and Prime Video on Aug. 18.

In a tweet on Aug. 5, NIKI revealed that the music videos of her recent songs are connected, as fans previously guessed: “So you may have noticed the three videos all seem to connect. That’s because we actually wrote the story as an entire short film.”

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Last April, NIKI made history as the first Indonesian artist to perform at Coachella. Later this month, she will be a headlining act at 88rising’s Head in the Clouds music festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Aug. 20 and Aug. 21. She will be joined by artists like Rich Brian, Jackson Wang, CHUNG HA, Jay Park, MILLI and BIBI.

NIKI will embark on her first solo North American tour starting in Vancouver on Sept. 8 and wrapping up in L.A. on Oct. 22.

Features Image via 88rising, photographer credit: Gabriel Chiu

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