Nina Cobham realises her worth in soothing new single "effort in"

Opening with a gorgeous organ-like synth, "effort in" oozes smooth, its hushed beats accentuating the sense of calm that comes when love and appreciation are reciprocated rather than ignored. “Look what happens when we put the effort in” she sings, begging for someone to step up to the plate. A final third breakdown sees the track distillate, as frustration takes over, and the idea of the future fades away, with nothing but disappointment left.

“It’s about realising you’re asking for bare minimum, and recognising you deserve better,” Cobham notes of the new track, “It was an observation that I tend to reciprocate what I receive. It was a moment of, "this is going nowhere because it’s a cycle we’re both encouraging, and neither of us even care that much”.

It's been five years since Cobham introduced herself to the masses with her debut single "Te extraño, pero…". Since its release, the track has racked up almost two million streams, a small sum compared to its follow-up "Sola", released the year later, which saw Cobham tackle her fear of being alone. Nina released her debut EP what colour does this feel like? in 2021, before releasing her second project Middle of Nowhere last February, which saw her garner a huge fanbase of support in South America, aided in no doubt by Cobham’s decision to scatter Spanish lyrics and verses throughout her work, harkening back to her early years spent growing up in Spain.

Since she began releasing demos on SoundCloud, Nina’s been dedicated and committed to her craft, so determined to leave her mark that she was adamant not to make a plan B. Originally entirely through English, her work went through a massive change in the following summer when, whilst on holidays visiting family in Spain, she was ridiculed for only making music for her English friends and not for them. “It was a joke, but it had definitely come from somewhere” she recalls of the episode, “Because of that, when I got back I wanted to include them because some of them are from an older generation that don’t speak English. That was the point when things changed.”

Whilst Middle of Nowhere dealt with Cobham’s move across the world and the hardship that came with it, Antes is focused on a very specific period of Nina’s life in 2021, which saw Nina lost and disconnected, on the hunt for meaning in an otherwise confounding world. Co-produced with Frankie Scoca, it blends soft synth and Cobham’s airy vocals to create an aura of mystique which is only amplified by the blend of languages across the projects.