Jānis Niedra releases debut full-length album with nine songs

Latvian singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jānis Niedra has released his first full-length album, “Jauni draugi atnāk vieglāk, kad aizmirstam par vecajiem” (“New friends come easier when we forget the old ones”). It has nine songs. He first performed it live at the end of October at the “Suns Studio” cultural space in Āgenskalns, Riga. A music reviewer's write-up of the album is largely favourable.

Who is Jānis Niedra

Niedra is 30 years old. He began his musical path at the Jāzeps Mediņš Riga 1st Music School, where he studied percussion and won success in Latvian and international competitions. He studied songwriting at the BIMM Bristol music institute in the United Kingdom. He released his first singles in 2015, while his debut EP “Pareizie nodomi, nepareizās izvēles” (“Right Intentions, Wrong Choices”) came out in November 2024. He has also written songs for other artists, including Aija Andrejeva, Elizabete Gaile and Elza Rozentāle, and began in pop music in the band “Blue Jean Serenade”.

Singles and assessment

His best-known solo songs are “Caur maniem, maniem matiem izslīd tavi, tavi pirksti”, which spent more than ten weeks in the Muzikālā banka Top 15, and “Tu, Tu”, which has several times made the Latvian Radio Top 10 list of most-played songs. “Ikdiena” also gets radio play, and his newest single is “11. autobuss” (“Bus No. 11”). The reviewer describes the album as melodic indie pop with a pleasant vocal, singling out “11. autobuss”, “Garas beigas” and “Trakās domas”. The reviewer's main criticism is the choice of “Šarms” as the opening track.

The album's producers are Kristaps Ērglis and Rūdolfs Ozols, and mixing and mastering were done by Reinis Kārkliņš.

Upcoming concerts

Niedra will perform on 14 November in Liepāja at “Pegaza Pagalms”, on 20 November in Cēsis at “Dimension Ink”, and on 27 November in Jelgava at “Melno Cepurīšu Balerija”. A band will accompany him.

The musician himself calls the album autobiographical and dedicated to his old, new and future friends.