Tendertwin blends her multinational roots with elegance on debut “Triangles”

The debut single from songwriter and composer Bilge Nur Yilmaz, who performs under the moniker Tendertwin, is a love letter to the three places she calls home: Istanbul, London, and Philadelphia.

Tendertwin is a Turkish neo-folk artist who is currently “‘(covid)stuck’ in London,” but attends school at Haverford College. Her music utilizes influences from the places she calls home, adapting sonic elements of Turkish music to Anglophone musical tradition. The title of her new track, “Triangles,” is in part a reference to the three cities to which she lays claim.

Tendertwin says of Philly, “It’s where I spent nights and mornings waiting for the last or first NHSL train back to the suburbs, after eating popcorn from the floor of the MFL post a smashing gig at Union Transfer or Electric Factory or The Fillmore … It’s the place where I recorded the skeleton of this track (Headroom Studios), and it’s the place whose DIY scene happily welcomed me as an 18-year-old foreigner on US land.”

“Triangles” itself is a manifestation of this combination of Turkish roots, English adjustment, and Philly DIY: it features lush instrumentation, including saxophone, trombone, and violin, but the compelling quality of Tendertwin’s voice is the central pull, as she draws out every word to its full length in lilting tones that carry the song through its crescendo and final denouement.

Listen to “Triangles” below.