Buzz is the third studio album released by Indonesian singer-songwriter Nicole Zefanya, better known as NIKI. Featuring thirteen tracks, Buzz features several beautiful songs about love, life and growing into oneself.
NIKI has spoken at length about her writing process, noting that this album is a “reflection-oriented time.” She explained that many of the songs are about her feelings as she emerged into her 20’s and about “radical acceptance,” something you can definitely hear while giving the album a listen. On Buzz, NIKI shows all the different phases and feelings of a relationship—from having a crush and falling in love, to anger and heartbreak, to the eventual healing process.
The pre-release track for this album, “Too Much Of A Good Thing” is the perfect vibe and setup for Buzz. The opening of this song, with its smooth bass and drums, is my favorite opening of any song on the album. This track truly encompasses everything on Buzz, illustrating longing, acceptance and love.
The title track on the album is an absolute gem of a song, and one of my favorites in the collection. This song personifies many different types of “buzzing,” from the sound of music amps to the feeling of meeting someone for the first time. It’s a delightful track, full of fun, sweet, relatable lines, and it’s perfect for anyone who has ever had a crush on another person. Personally, I adore the romantic lyrics of the song, and the overall production, with its electric guitars and backing synths, gives the song a beautiful summer vibe.
A couple other songs fitting into the vibe of “crushing” on someone are the tracks “Magnets” and “Tsunami”. While both tracks explore the feelings associated with falling for someone, the former describes the almost indiscernible pull towards another person, while the latter describes the instant love-at-first-sight kind of crush. Both tracks are on the slower side, particularly “Tsunami”, and both are beautiful examples of NIKI’s lyricism and her “lover girl” attitude on Buzz.
NIKI also showcases the anger that comes from a relationship, with the songs “Colossal Loss” and “Focus”. The first track is all electric guitars and comes off a lot like an indie rock song. It expresses the anger you might feel towards someone in a relationship and the idea that NIKI is someone’s “colossal loss.”
On a similar note, “Focus” expresses the artist’s attitude towards someone that may play with your heart and can’t decide what they want. This is another of my favorite tracks on the album, with its attitude, sass and relatability.
A great majority of songs on Buzz are sadder, slower and altogether more introspective. The two slowest and saddest songs on the album, “Did You Like Her In The Morning?” and “Paths”, perfectly exemplify this. The first track is a slow ballad, where NIKI questions her lover about a previous relationship. Meanwhile the second song is a ballad about longing and accepting a relationship as it ends. Both are beautiful songs and the acoustics on both are sure to tug at your heartstrings.
NIKI continues with the themes of heartbreak and longing on “Blue Moon” and my favorite track off the album, “Take Care”. “Blue Moon” is a slightly more upbeat track, reflecting on a relationship gone by. “Take Care” is all about the acoustic guitar, and I am absolutely in love with it. On this track, NIKI longs for a past lover and wishes them well, and it’s such a beautiful song. It illustrates an experience that so many people can understand and empathize with.
The last few songs on the album are NIKI’s “radical acceptance,” including “Strong Girl”, “Heirloom Pain”, and “Nothing Can”. These are the artist’s songs of acceptance, strength and self-healing. “Heirloom Pain” is my favorite of the bunch, and it’s a gut-wrenching, yet beautifully touching, track. Since it describes the hardships of generational trauma, it may seem like an outlier on the tracklist, but in reality it fits right in with its messages about love, acceptance and frustration.
All in all, Buzz is an album that takes the listener through every phase of a relationship. From crushing to love to heartbreak to healing, Buzz has a track for everyone in all stages of life.
It’s such an acute reflection of who NIKI is as a person and what she has experienced over her first two decades. Even though I thought her previous album Nicole was her best work, it has been absolutely surpassed by Buzz, and I could not be happier being wrong.
And if you enjoy Buzz, you might also like Nicole by Niki and to love in the 21st century by Lyn Lapid.
