Jakarta-born and LA-based singer-songwriter and producer Niki announced that her third studio album “Buzz” will be released on Aug. 9 via 88rising.
Ahead of the release, she dropped its lead single “Too Much Of A Good Thing” and music video.
The cover of Niki's "Buzz" album (88rising)
The new track is infused with sardonic, all-too-honest lyrics that effortlessly convey the feelings that come with having a new crush.
Set to sinewy bass guitar and a steady beat, she starts off by professing, “Well, you look like you’re gonna break my heart /and I look like a tough shot in the dark on a good day.”
The song is co-produced with Niki’s friend and producer Ethan Gruska, who previously penned songs with the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Bon Iver and Kimbra.
“‘Too Much Of A Good Thing,’ is this fun, tongue-in-cheek song about desire, imagination and the playground of excitement and irreverence they create. It’s about that initial anticipation we all know and love where there’s a little extra pep in your step, which I feel translates even sonically, with that timeless, stroll-along-to-the-tempo groove you get when you are momentarily invincible,” said Niki.
She added that she “wrote it with my very talented friend Ethan Gruska when I was listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac and The Beatles, and it was one of the earliest ideas that catalyzed the rest of this album.”
Strutting down New York city streets with slicked-back hair and a leopard print fur coat, Niki screams confidence personified in the “Too Much Of A Good Thing” music video.
Directed by Alexandra Thurmond and shot on 16mm film, its gritty, black-and-white visuals feel more like the makings of a short film - and an introduction to Niki’s new sonic universe.
About “Buzz,” Niki said, “I went through an identity crisis. It took a lot of trial and error, and I just stumbled upon pieces of myself along the way. I named it ‘Buzz’ because it feels like I'm on the precipice of something about to happen.”
For her, things have been happening progressively since she was a high schooler in Jakarta, Indonesia. As a student at an international academy, she cut her teeth scribbling lovesick poems in English class and performed acoustic guitar covers of American pop songs on YouTube. With a six-string in hand, and her family and classmates cheering her on from the audience, Nicole Zefanya then staked her claim to global stardom as Niki.
Niki has over three billion streams worldwide, sold out shows on multiple continents, massive sets at festivals across the globe, front row seats at Paris Fashion Week and four songs on a Marvel film’s soundtrack.