Niki Zefanya, better known as Niki, is poised to deliver one of her most ambitious projects to date. Buzz, her third studio album, is slated for release on Aug. 9, and the Indonesian star has offered its second single, which debuts exclusively with Rolling Stone.
The track, which was penned by the singer-songwriter during her 2023 Nicole World Tour and in the aftermath of a four-year relationship, is a nod to the astrologic rarity of a “Blue Moon” and sees Niki share her experience with stunning vulnerability.
When speaking with Rolling Stone, Niki says that the track captures the “slow and very sudden demise of a significant relationship,” which she describes as one of the deepest loves we can experience but also a classic trope of the “right person, wrong time.”
The accompanying music video, which drops Friday, was “very much inspired by The Wizard of Oz,” says the musician. “That scene where Dorothy’s house gets uprooted unexpectedly into a twister symbolizes how it felt, where you just were oblivious to the chaos, and sort of holding on for dear life.”
Niki says when director Ivana Bobic first heard the line, “We were swept up in the cruelest cyclone,” Bobic’s immediate thought was to draw from the classic 1939 film. “I was like, ‘That’s crazy, because I had that in my head as I was writing this song.’ So we really connected over that, and it just kept building.” She notes that the video “captures that feeling” of being unconscious to the “chaos,” because “I’m literally singing into the camera as all of the stuff is flying around and my hair is everywhere.”
“Blue Moon” follows lead single “Too Much Of A Good Thing,” and was co-produced by Niki’s close friend and collaborator Ethan Gruska and features a searing violin, viola, and string arrangement from Rob Moose.
Much of Buzz “was written all over the all over the world” while on tour, says Niki, adding that the album’s title track was written on her phone while waiting at her boarding gate before a flight in Vancouver. Another song, “Strong Girl,” was inked while she “going through it personally, and was just kind of having a hard time dealing with being on the go and having to perform.” Niki says the still-unreleased track came to her while driving through Maryland and was recorded at a Holiday Inn.
In support of her forthcoming album, Niki is set to embark on her world tour spanning North America, Europe, the UK, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand — with the Buzz World Tour launching in Toronto on Sept 5.
“I feel like I’ve really grown into my own artistry and sort of just doing everything with conviction,” she says when describing how she’s changed since 2022’s Nicole and her new musical era. “I decided to call it Buzz because it symbolizes this feeling and this energy that you’re on the precipice of something about to happen.”