Nianel has come a long way since 2001 when I first interviewed her for her debut album, Who Painted the Moon? Back then she was very shy, but the woman in front of me today is confident, bubbly, open and very talkative.
Just Be is her seventh album and it is very emotional and in search of positivity.
She plays the opening track, Take Me To The Light. It is an epic song with huge production.
“We have this battle with light and darkness in us. I felt frozen for quite a while,” she says and suddenly looks sad. “Well, it is a sad place, I suppose. It is hard to accept yourself, it takes a while. It’s like music. If you press that chord and sustain it, and you don’t go to the next chord, it ends. Life is like that.
“I don’t listen to music because my head is so full of music, but this is the first time I referenced music for my producer.”
Suddenly she switches off her music and smiles. “You see, I can’t speak and listen to music at the same time.
“I had the same singing voice from when I was six. It’s taken 43 years for my personality to grow into my voice. When I first started my career I was terrified to say even ‘thank you’ on stage. I had this voice and I had to grow into it.
“Now I have written a best-seller, I am a motivational speaker and a qualified theta healer. I work on subconscious beliefs and brainwaves. For people who are psychic it takes time to settle into this body. It’s taken a few years for me to accept myself and my wrongs.”
While she is Afrikaans and has a large Afrikaans following, her songs are all in English.
“The angels channel words to me in English,” she explains. She is clearly on a spiritual journey and it is certainly reflected in her lyrics.
“Change is good. When things change something wonderful is going to happen. Change is the one constant thing in life. If you resist change life will be a struggle.”
At this stage I am not resisting the outpouring from this musician. Nianell has clearly gone through big changes in her personal life and has embraced them positively.
She goes back to her album.
“All Is Perfect is another of my favourites, as is the title track. It’s been such a journey to accept myself. We need to be the miracle we should be. It all begins within.”
She also did a few covers including The Sound of Silence which she says she wishes she had written. “If I could have written a song it would be this. I can’t feel music. I have to make it to feel it. Manifestation is important. I wanted lots of kids and I ended up having triplets.”
Of her destiny she is firm in her belief. “I am ready to do what I came here for which is to remind people to see their worth. I do that by being my worth, knowing my worth and allowing myself to be worthy. I feel free and that is an amazing place to be. I always opened my heart, now I have opened my soul.”