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Live Review: Nao ‘Inhale Exhale’

28 May 2015 | 10:35 am | Katie Rowley

NAO has long been associated with the Paul brothers – Jai and AK – who collaborated on her first ever single, 2014’s ‘So Good’. Nao is back with a sultry...

NAO has long been associated with the Paul brothers – Jai and AK – who collaborated on her first ever single, 2014’s ‘So Good’. AK had written and sang on Jai’s tracks ‘Jasmine’ and ‘BTSTU’, a distinctive sound that strongly informed Nao’s own work.

Now Nao’s back with a new EP, February 15, and new single, ‘Inhale Exhale’ is about as sultry as a comeback can get. The enigmatic EP title makes us think of the morning after the night before, makes us ask what happened to the South London soul singer on a certain Valentines Day, was her heart made or heart broken? Listening to ‘Inhale Exhale’, it seems she was wronged. Very wronged. But it’s okay, because, as she confidently assures us in the song, "I’m back again".

The track channels early 90’s R’n’B – Nao clearly grew up listening to Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston. In her own music, gristling quagmire synths muscle against a pointed yet poised voice. It’s a smokey, dubby, deep track that is the definition of sass. It retains the Jai/AK Paul production style, but we’re yet to see whether either of the brothers will be credited on Nao’s new EP. This shouldn’t overshadow her talent however, and hopefully Nao will propel past these name checks and into her own niche. Having featured on Mura Masa’s recent track ‘Firefly’, she’s working towards this.

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The synths funk up and down the 4-minute delight, bristling through the track and setting a staccato beat that will make you want to flounce around, flicking your hair and finger snapping. Boys, I’m talking to you too.

The February 15 EP is available on iTunes now, and a vinyl issue will be released via Dummy Records.

Words by Katie Rowley

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