New Music: NYIKO – Keeping Me Alive

NYIKO (“nee-koh”) is an American multi-disciplinary artist based out of Los Angeles, California. They featured on the blog back in April with Like The Movies. They’re back in style with new track Keeping Me Alive.

In common with previous single Like The Movies, the 80’s has a subtle presence here. Echoes of The Smiths and James at their creative height hover in the background, informing but not overshadowing the song. More conventional pop sounds of the era and now are more to the fore, the glossy pomp of Duran and the sophisticated California beats of Magdalena Bay – and of course the calm, open vocal delivery of NYIKO – make the song feel like a familiar and welcome friend.

NYIKO says they tapped into experiences from a previous relationship to explore more deeply the message behind the song. “Without getting into too many details, my partner was suffering from a form of mental illness, and her treatment became deeply interwoven with our relationship, resulting in co-dependency issues. In some ways, I think that the pure nature of being in that relationship was hindering both of our growth. A relationship or a person can feel like an addiction and that you would be lost without them, even when you know that it’s causing you harm.”

Keeping Me Alive is out now: head over to their Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter feeds for details on how to listen to the song.

Photo by Niles Gregory