Listen: Niia – “Generation Blue”

We haven’t really heard much from New York jazz chanteuse Niia since the release of “Made For You” – the first glimpse at what her Robin Hannibal produced debut is going to sound like. In the meantime, Hannibal kept himself busy as one half of Rhye, working on their own debut album. But now she’s back, with Hannibal in tow, to treat us all to the utterly beautiful “Generation Blue”.

“Generation Blue” shares a lot with some of the best tracks on Rhye’s Woman. Hannibal’s gentle production, often with a few idiosyncratic additions such as little bubble bursting ‘yip-yips’ in the background, is coupled with a dreamy, floating voice; only here that voice belongs to Niia instead of Milosh. The intermittent string section appearances add a whole other layer of beauty to the track, one tinged in sadness but with an almost anthemic feel.