EP Review: niina - 'apple juice'
In the digital age with a myriad of social media platforms, TikTok has become a springboard for music careers across the globe. Yet some artists still prefer to remain shrouded in mystery. Pop producer and singer Pink Pantheress rose to prominence through TikTok yet preferred to remain known through her pseudonym. Prog-metal titans Sleep Token perform in masks and remain anonymous, with frontman Vessel declaring the band ‘serve Sleep and project his message’.
Niina is following in their footsteps – described as an immersive multi-disciplinary project, this has been almost a decade in the making. The only picture of this mysterious collective is on their Soundcloud where they don pink gem headdresses and transparent veils. While the faces behind the music remain unknown, the results of their work is nothing short of thrilling – they specialise in uplifting electronic music with an abrasive edge. This has never been more apparent than on their latest EP apple juice, a definitive release that crackles with energy and creativity.
While the elusive producer was inspired by Mura Masa and Jamie xx, their most recent EP sounds closer to Crystal Castles. No track emanates this more than ‘Party Girl’, a menacing number that for all the sinister synths somehow manages to morph into a rave anthem. It’s a decisive step into more experimental territory, which doesn’t come as a surprise but comes to define the other tracks on the EP.
Singles ‘summer in the rain’ and the title track ‘apple juice’ feature, but they can’t compare to how the new tracks dazzle. ‘5 Floors’ is sunny electro-pop that shines brightly. With their vibrant pop aesthetics and uptempo production, the newer songs sound as if they are inspired by the queen of left-field dance music, Jessy Lanza. However the unmistakable stamp of niina is there, ‘gimme gimme’ is by far the most erratic cut.
It darts around like a pinball machine in action with frequent calls of “cash cash money money” through buzzcut beats and blissful trip-hop. The reason niina exists is because a group of female producers wanted to create a safe space budding with new ideas and free from intervention. Speaking about this, the producer said “I love being a female artist, and I love what female artists bring to the creative industries,” she says of the concept. “But because it’s such a male-dominated industry still, so much of the time that contribution simply isn’t acknowledged. It's time for that balance to become more equal; now is our time.”
With that in mind, the niina girls are a symbol of the collective strength amongst strong, creative women. apple juice is a beautiful distillation of all this idea, fuelled by boundless ambition and divine femininity.
Words by Oliver Evans
