{"id":159,"date":"2018-01-30T19:52:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T19:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theadclub.org\/womens2018\/?p=159"},"modified":"2018-04-03T20:26:10","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T20:26:10","slug":"1-niia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/2018\/01\/30\/1-niia\/","title":{"rendered":"Niia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"stripe stripe-style-5\" style=\"background-position: top;background-repeat: no-repeat;background-attachment: scroll;background-size: auto;padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px\"><div class=\"wpb_row wf-container full-width-wrap\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px\" >\n\t<div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container \">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"gap\" style=\"line-height: 50px; height: 50px;\"><\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wpb_single_image wpb_content_element vc_align_center\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" vc_box_border_grey \" src=\"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2018\/01\/Niia_bw-1.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" alt=\"Niia_bw\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n<div class=\"gap\" style=\"line-height: 5px; height: 5px;\"><\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Niia<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>American Singer, Songwriter &amp; Pianist<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n<div class=\"gap\" style=\"line-height: 15px; height: 15px;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"vc_separator wpb_content_element vc_el_width_50 vc_sep_color_grey\">\n\t<span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_l\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t<span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_r\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"gap\" style=\"line-height: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_row wf-container\" style=\"margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px\" >\n\t<div class=\"vc_col-sm-6 wpb_column column_container \">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n\t<div class=\"wpb_video_widget wpb_content_element\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_video_wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aSBhTVCwOmg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div class=\"vc_col-sm-6 wpb_column column_container \">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n\t<div class=\"wpb_video_widget wpb_content_element\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_video_wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kn_7T4GeEsA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><div class=\"wpb_row wf-container\" style=\"margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px\" >\n\t<div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container \">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"gap\" style=\"line-height: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\tLike a single strand of wafting smoke, Niia&#8217;s debut album&nbsp;<em>I<\/em>&nbsp;is entrancing in its sparse, elegantly gliding beauty. Her follow-up to 2014&#8217;s&nbsp;<em>Generation Blue<\/em>&nbsp;EP and first release on Atlantic Records takes that release&#8217;s lush, bassy sound and pares it back to reveal smooth, fully realized songwriting and timeless aesthetics. It&#8217;s a slow-burning, intimate document that tips its hand towards genres as disparate as the glory days of trip-hop, mid-tempo disco, and misty jazz, while retaining an impressively unified mood evoking modern noir.<\/p>\n<p>A prodigious musician with jazz vocal training, Niia has spent the last eight years charting a path towards&nbsp;<em>I<\/em>&nbsp;that mirrors the patient, sneakily brilliant sounds the record contains. After a guest vocal spot on Wyclef Jean&#8217;s &#8220;Sweetest Girl&#8221; back in 2007 and years of establishing herself amongst the NYC underground scene with performances at Sleep No More, 2014 saw the release of&nbsp;<em>Generation Blue<\/em>\u2014a slinky, full-bodied collection of smooth pop toplined by the lovely single \u201cBody.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With its interlocking guitar parts, gorgeous instrumentation, and Niia&#8217;s gliding vocals, &#8220;Body&#8221; provided a taste of what was to come with&nbsp;<em>I<\/em>, which expands on that sound while bringing in a variety of other influences. You can hear the spacious and cool-handed trip-hop of Massive Attack and Zero 7 on the cascading &#8220;Last Night in Los Feliz,&#8221; and &#8220;Hurt You First&#8221; ripples with lush production touches that sound like a love letter to the girl-group R&amp;B of the late 1990s. Then there&#8217;s &#8220;California,&#8221; which evokes the quiet-storm R&amp;B perfected by Sade while drawing from the dusky vocal jazz that&#8217;s been so formative in Niia&#8217;s artistic growth.<\/p>\n<p>Lyrically,&nbsp;<em>I<\/em>&nbsp;explores the seductive fruit that new love brings, along with the anxieties and complications that result in giving yourself over to another. &#8220;I usually hide behind the lyrics,&#8221; Niia admits regarding&nbsp;<em>I<\/em>&#8216;s personal bent, which took shape during a songwriting process that transpired over the last year and a half. &#8220;I was surprised how transparent I got while writing these songs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Along for that journey is Grammy-nominated producer Robin Hannibal, who&#8217;s lent his considerable talents to artists as varied as Kendrick Lamar, Chairlift, and Cee Lo Green\u2014not to mention his work as part of the moody, gorgeous R&amp;B act Rhye. Hannibal and Niia linked up five years ago, and they quickly became kindred spirits when it came to their artistic aims. &#8220;I love Robin&#8217;s production because it has a timeless quality but still feels fresh,&#8221; Niia says. &#8220;I want to flex my voice and be the star of the song, so it was really fun to challenge Robin and myself to make that work.&#8221;&nbsp;The result is a warm, engaging document that tugs at the strings of Niia&#8217;s previous work to reveal greater sonic depths, made more apparent by the impeccable arrangements working in perfect congress with her impossibly flexible vocals.<\/p>\n<p>A confluence of the contemporary and current carries a strong presence on&nbsp;<em>I<\/em>&nbsp;highlight &#8220;Sideline,&#8221; a dark, seductive slice of orchestral pop that recalls the intimate singer-songwriter stylings of Carole King and&nbsp;<em>Tidal<\/em>-era Fiona Apple\u2014all while addressing concerns as of-our-moment as questioning the contents of a loved one&#8217;s background on their cell phone. &#8220;It&#8217;s about the idea of being a girl and dealing with what it&#8217;s like to be in a relationship now,&#8221; Niia says. &#8220;It plays into my insecurities of being in a relationship that i care about. How do you get through all the shit?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For anyone looking to find an answer to that question (or a soundtrack for their own ups and downs in the world of love),&nbsp;<em>I<\/em>&nbsp;is sure to score lonely nights and newly hopeful mornings alike. It&#8217;s a confident, bold album that nonetheless retains an enigmatic quality\u2014a collection of dreamlike sounds that serves as a perfect entry into this new chapter of Niia&#8217;s career.\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>American Singer, Songwriter &#038; Pianist<br \/><strong> <br \/> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speakers-2018"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2018\/01\/Niia_bw-1-1.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2018\/01\/Niia_bw-1-1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"The Ad Club","author_link":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/author\/theadclub\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.theadclub.org\/womens2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}