REVIEW: NYIKO Embraces Life’s Unpredictability on New Album ‘Fate’
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY MARIAH ESTRAN ☆
Niles Gregory
AFTER FIVE YEARS, NYIKO RETURNS—with another captivating, reflective synth-pop force: his sophomore album Fate.
Spanning ten songs, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and producer delves further into the layers of connection. While it’s a topic NYIKO has never shied away from, his previous debut release, Honesty, touched on falling in and out of love; this newest addition presents the current perspective. Produced alongside Michael Matta and Jynjo and mastered by Joe LaPorta, this new album tackles how modern-day conundrums can reshape love and identity.
"I wanted to write an album about the invisible forces that shape our lives," says NYIKO. "Whether it's the internet, politics, nostalgia, celebrity culture or our own attachment patterns, we spend so much time believing we're making independent choices without realizing how much we're being pulled by things outside ourselves. Every song asks the same question from a different angle: how much of our lives is fate, and how much is choice?”
Fate continues to shine a light on his mix of post-punk and new-wave sounds, opening with “O Primate,” a shimmery introduction of twinkling keys that warmly wrap around poignant words about the use of power, questioning how destruction has become the norm. The song is quickly followed with a kicky drum cadence on “Stay Young” as NYIKO describes the common wish to stop time before the confusing elements of adulthood come into play.
Those puzzling chapters in life quickly come back into play on songs like “camgirl," as it details the complex nature of connection, tapping into the loneliness within the digital spaces we frequently explore. And then there's “Sugar,” the pulsating tune that explores how the power of infatuation can lead to toxic tendencies when curiosity takes over.
By mid-album, NYIKO has laid out a collection of songs that allow space for common experiences throughout existence. The ones that we don't always have an answer to, but feel them nonetheless.
“Shelter” swings in, a brightly produced number that describes the blissful feeling of finding comfort in someone’s company, as NYIKO sings about discovering shelter within another's arms, even if it's a fleeting moment. The depiction of time passing moves perfectly into “Neighborhood,” a nostalgic story of looking back on your childhood when life moves you forward. The jumpy chorus illustrates NYIKO being content with going back to where he grew up, but for now, home is in a different place; however, we never forget where it all started.
As the album closes, the title track brings in those moody new-wave production details to heighten the decision to tempt fate with another, playing an unpredictable game.
In the album's final minutes, it’s the impact of “Summer of Outrage” that brings everything together. NYIKO circles back to 2020—isolating times, government chaos and our overexposure to digital media. It's the moving synths, elevated with striking guitar, that bring listeners into a cathartic space that recognizes the time spent with the weight of uncertainty that the future can hold. Chants throughout the track repeatedly ring “summer of outrage” as NYIKO sings about the cycle of anger and grief. The song ends with moving lyrics, “Wish I knew then, that this wouldn’t last, so I’d take in every second I had.”
Those passionate words are not only striking on that last track, but in many ways, they remain true throughout the entirety of Fate. The album completely recognizes the uncertain moments, problems and answers in life. Fate allows space to be made for the contradictions we face. Through this album, NYIKO has found beauty in the unknown, and it will help those who listen feel the same.
