POLI NIKA released her new EP Remember Why on October 31, capping off a busy 2025 with singles that built steady buzz. The indie-pop singer, active since 2019 with two earlier EPs and more than 15 tracks under her belt, draws from classical piano roots and vocal training to shape her sound. After shifting from Russia to Portugal in 2022, she’s embedded herself in Lisbon’s music network, picking up praise from overseas media and stations for her takes on emotion and recovery. Pulling threads from Jordan Rakei, Lizzy McAlpine, and Emily King, she layers jazz and soul into pop frames that tackle love, sorrow, and renewal head-on.
The EP runs five tracks deep, all backed by luscious sun soaked production for the Jazzy touch all over this EP. Kicking off with ‘Sunny Days’—a co-write with Liz Rodrigues, who’s worked with Eminem and Celine Dion—it unfolds in easy jazz-pop lines, mapping out the slow return to energy after a low period, complete with the rich brassy horns to compliment the climax of the song. The centerpiece ‘Remember Why’ steadies the set with soft brass swells and keyboard warmth, her voice cutting clean to underline the messaging of the track.
Under Theodore Lion‘s production, the neo-soul lean keeps things textured and direct. POLI NIKA shared: “Every bright song on this EP comes from knowing its opposite first. Freedom from being trapped. Love from heartbreak. Sunny days from years feeling dim. That’s what makes these bright songs real. The light comes from knowing what the darkness costs.” On ‘Sunny Days’, she reflected: “It’s about finding that spark again, music, songwriting, my artist path. That’s when everything shifted, when the colours came back.” She added: “It was important to me that this album has a human touch. That you could feel the breath in the brass, the fingers on the strings, the soul in every note.” Solid listen for pop that pulls no punches.
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