The first song for Yle’s 2025 Contest for New Music UMK have been released. Listen to NEEA RIVER’s UMK 2025 song “Nightmares”
Originally from Nurmijärvi, NEEA RIVER’s passion for an international singing career started as a teenager. The biggest leap towards her dreams coming true happened by chance on a holiday trip to Los Angeles. During the trip, River uploaded her own singing videos to Instagram, and a local producer found them and asked River to come to the studio. After returning to Finland, River continued contacts with the producer who two years later proposed that River move to Los Angeles.
The American dream came true quickly for River. The artist’s third song ended up on the soundtrack of a film, which made everything happen even faster. River networked with Finnish music professionals in the United States, which resulted in a publishing deal with Warner Music Finland. For three years, River created hits for both domestic and foreign artists, and River’s reputation in the music industry strengthened.
Later, River realized she wanted to create songs for herself. She stopped writing for others and focused on her own career. Around the same time, she launched her own record label. Today, she’s making waves with her English-language pop hits.
Fan of artists such as Britney Spears, Rihanna and The Weekend, NEEA RIVER sums up her artistry in one word: “pop machine”.
“I have a suit of pop armour that’s full of power. When I’m wearing it, nothing can stop me,” says River.
UMK is a natural continuation for NEEA RIVER’s rising career and the first time that River will perform one of her own songs in public. The UMK song Nightmares was based on the ambitious idea of creating a winning song for the Eurovision Song Contest.
UMK expert jury: “Neea’s voice is the first thing that catches your attention in the song Nightmares. Clearly, this is a top professional who controls her voice exceptionally well. The next thing you notice is the stellar composition that combines modern pop aesthetics with epic Eurovision vibes and cinematic glamour. The finishing touch is the uplifting dance production with its big drops. It is great to see a self-publishing independent artist like NEEA RIVER at UMK.”
UMK 2025
The songs competing in UMK 2025 to represent Finland at Eurovision 2025 will be revealed in this order:
Thu, 9 January NEEA RIVER– “Nightmares”- Fri, 10 January Nelli Matula – “Hitaammin Hautaan”
- Mon, 13 January costee – “Sekaisin”
- Tue, 14 January VIIVI – “Aina”
- Wed, 15 January One Morning Left – “Puppy”
- Thu, 16 January Goldielocks – “Made Of”
- Fri, 17 January Erika Vikman – “ICH KOMME”
The UMK grand final will take place on Saturday, 10 February, 20:00 CET and will be broadcast on Yle TV1, Yle Areena and Yle radio channels.
LYRICS “Nightmares” by NEEA RIVER
English
Nightmares
I hear the sins of the night, they’re calling my name
Try to lead me into their wild wicked games
But I fight back with power of hearing your voice
You take my hand, eternal wonderland
I don’t see the nightmares, not anymore
I don’t feel the dark freezing my core
I don’t get too lost in myself or let fear crawling under my skin
When I let you in
I don’t see the nightmares, not anymore
I don’t feel the pain draining my soul
I don’t let the devils on walls turn the lullabies dead in my head
Goodbye my night – nightmares
(Na na na)
Na na night
When my mind is out of line and only drifting out there
(Gasping for air)
The sweetest dream feels like it’s million hours away, no, no
But you fight back for the love that almost died in me
And I swear
I don’t see the nightmares, not anymore
I don’t feel the pain draining my soul
I don’t let the devils on walls turn the lullabies dead in my head
Goodbye my night – nightmares
(Na na na)
Na na nightmares
I don’t see, I don’t see them anywhere
I don’t see the nightmares, not anymore
I don’t feel the dark freezing my core
I don’t get too lost in myself or let fear crawling under my skin
Nightmares
I don’t feel the dark freezing my core
I don’t get too lost in myself or let fear crawling under my skin
When I let you in
I don’t see the nightmares, not anymore
I don’t feel the pain draining my soul
I don’t let the devils on walls turn the lullabies dead in my head
Goodbye my night – nightmаreѕ
| Artist | Neea Jokinen |
| Title | Nightmares |
| Songwriters | Ilkka Wirtanen, Neea Jokinen, Petri Alanko |
| Language | English |
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