PREMIERE: Nuria releases second album 'Silver': "I wanted the production to reflect the enormity of the emotions expressed in the songs."
Tasmanian singer Nuria (pronounced NOO-ree-ah, real name Anna Maynard) releases her second album Silver tomorrow, Friday 3rd December but today it premieres in full exclusively on Women In Pop.
Featuring nine tracks, the album is a stunning blend of soundscapes with the brooding electro of ‘Night’ sitting alongside the soaring theatrical title track and the stripped back ballad ‘Like That’. It is an album that has seen Nuria grow as an artist and her confidence and talent are shining through.
“2020 was a strange year to say the least, but it gave rise to this album,” Nuria says. “Silver is a collection of songs I wrote during the pandemic when somehow life had a little more breathing room and space for creativity. It was also during this time I connected with producer Sam Phay and mix/master engineer Peter Holz who helped bring this project to life.”
Silver will be released tomorrow, but today you can listen to it exclusively right here. We also spoke to Nuria to find out more about the creation of the album and you can read our interview below.
Hey Nuria! Thanks for chatting to us today. How are things in your world right now?
Very nice thank you! Summer time, new baby, album release - so many exciting things! Small pandemic continuing to bubble away but life must go on hey?
Exactly. On that note, congratulations on the release of your second album Silver which is out Friday. How does it feel to have it out in the world?
It feels great and kind of scary! I’ve been working on this music for such a long time, have listened to these songs so so many times and its hard for me to hear the music freshly anymore. But I feel the songs are strong and I’m proud of the album!
Can you talk us a little through the creative process for Silver?
Silver was written in 2020 during the pandemic. Although not affected to the same degree as most of the world we had our changes here in Tasmania and life was slower for a time. I found this a really productive creative period and it was also during this time that I connected with producer Sam Phay. I was so excited by the sounds we were creating that I just kept writing songs. I was living with my family in a caravan at the time while we were building our house so all the songs and vocals were recorded up one end of a caravan with kids playing around my feet - who says you need a fancy recording studio hey?!
There is such a glorious range of sounds on the album - there are electro pop moments through to really majestic, almost musical theatre numbers. What was your desire for the feel of the album?
I really wanted the production to reflect the enormity of the emotions expressed in the songs. The music video for ‘Red Velvet’ as well as all the artwork images were taken from shots in Hobart’s Theatre Royal and that really set the tone for the whole album. I have a personal background in musical theatre and I kept coming back to this idea of us as characters in our own lives. I wanted to cover that range of human emotions and make them big and grandiose to celebrate our desires and imperfections and shine light on the hidden moments of ourselves. I wanted this deeply saturate feeling in imagery and production to match those big emotions and I felt the shimmery subtleties of textures that Sam Phay brought to the songs was so fitting to illustrate our human complexities.
This is your second album after Alive which was released last year. How has the experience differed, if at all, for you creating your first album vs your second?
I definitely feel this second album is a big step up. Alive felt really fresh and explorative as I was finding the sound of Nuria and that was super exciting. But there were also moments in creating Alive that were overworked and over thought. When I connected with Sam Phay the album Silver just flew out of me and I feel that the album as a whole has a more established ease to it which allowed me to go deeper into the songwriting.
We really love the track ‘Night’ which has this dark, moody electro feel to it. Can you talk us through the inspiration behind this one?
This song delves into challenging personal moments when life can feel dark, trapped and impossibly lonely. The choruses rises into this almost mantra like reminder that things will look differently in the light and indeed ‘this too shall pass’.
What is your musical background, how did your career develop to where you are now?
I started playing piano and writing little songs when I was in primary school - innocent things like how the flowers looked in springtime. When I hit my high school years I became obsessed with Missy Higgins and learnt all her songs by heart. I soon realised that writing songs was a really powerful way to process the challenges of life as a teenage girl. I dabbled in musical theatre for many years from there but songwriting in my bedroom continued to be a major tool in how I navigated life and managed all the strong emotions I experienced and still do.
Who are the artists that inspire you, both now and when you were growing up?
As mentioned Missy Higgins obviously! I also remember early in high school seeing Kate Miller-Heidke playing in a pub to a room of about 15 people. She was as amazing back then as she is now and was hugely inspirational in how she used her classical training and theatrics to weave through her pop sound.
You also have a ‘sensible day job’ as a doctor. How do you find the right balance between the two careers? Little bit of both! I feel the two work well together - when I’m sick of thinking about my internal world I love listening to other people’s stories, when I’m tired of other people’s stories I turn back inwardly - ideally after I get home!
For so long the music industry has been a difficult space for women to exist in mostly because it has been run by older, white, straight men for so long. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
The music industry is a tough nut to crack no matter who you are I reckon. I am always trying to remind myself to enjoy the process no matter the outcome - we will never have control over what the industry chooses, so regardless of gender, sexuality or ethnicity we can only do our best and be able to say to ourselves we have given it our best shot.
What else is coming up for Nuria in 2021 and into 2022?
Well 2021 is nearly out so this album will be my final hoorah for the year! 2022 holds new music again and album number three. Who knows what else!
Silver will be released on December 3rd. You can stream here from Friday.
To keep up with all things Nuria you can follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
