Parma Violets artist review: NAO

Nao. vocal powerhouse. Emotional threat. Incredible artist.

The thing is with Nao, her music is raw, and real. Her songwriting is supreme, she words everything perfectly and honestly, plainly. There aren’t many big words or metaphors- she says it straight and no topic is too light or too niche; she covers every experience: Losing friends, feeling unwanted, feeling loved, being lost, desire, loss. She makes her world extremely penetrable and herself vulnerable to relate to us, her listeners and closest confidants. You relate to not only the lyrics but the musical composition comes in heavy, especially in ‘For All We Know’ - my favourite album from Nao. It strongly features dirty electric guitar, accompanied by impactful drums, multiple layers, light percussions and multiple harmonies.

Nao’s music mixes completely original beats with traditional themes in both her albums. Even more so in her award-winning album ‘Saturn’ featuring hits like “Make It Out Alive(ft.SiR) and “Saturn”(ft. Kwabs). Both artists you should also check out by the way.

If you are already in your feelings stay awaay, far away from NAO- you’ve been warned. This girl will crush you, she is not playing games. The purity of each song and the openness of each one places you in the thick of it being transported and transfixed in the place she wants you to be. Here’s one of the songs I love. It starts off slow and synth. The perfect song to lie on your back and watch the clouds drift by and then - three beats . . .BOOM, you’re drawn in to rhythm. The deep bass matches the switch from simple reminiscing to the theme of confrontation taken in the song and increases in intensity ( 02:50) until she hits a falsetto; tying up the memories and indicating a closure to the relationship and the song. I love the artistry behind her songs and I'm sure you will too. I'd urge you to explore her full discography.

Listen to this complete banger here:

International Parma Violets Pick: Mwuana

Hi All!

Hope you’ve enjoyed the summer. For those of you that have been on holiday and come back to wonderful dreary England, take heart- we’re one step closer to Autumn. Which means pumpkin stuff, cinnamon, and fluffy socks!

But in the meantime let’s celebrate the last days of summer with this absolute tune right here by Mwuana.

As many of you know I love international music so so much! I’m definitely going to be sharing more music from around the globe.

I strongly believe some of the best music, food, and tv dramas come from around the world. I love exploring different cultures and learning new things. I realised just because we may not understand what they are saying it doesn’t have to limit your enjoyment. The best decision I made was listening to international music as often their versions of R&B will be influenced by their traditional music yet they always in my experience take a wider and more abstract approach to form beats.

Beats are always more complex and the music tends to have more complimenting layers without sounding to messy or getting too mixed. With this particular dancefloor bop, each part of the songs from the drums, piano, simple melody and rhythm both present something exciting and pyrotechnic on their own and are lethal in combination. This song has an infectious melody and Mwuana’s rapping switching between Swedish, French, and English gives it even more life. I’ve been vibing to this song all summer.

Now let's talk about the artist himself. Mwuana = GENIUS.

He has an incredible creative scope and is Hip Hop personified in his swagger, style, and performance. A big vision for direction and production when it comes to the branding of his songs and music videos. With this particular song he was a director, producer, and editor. Props to his creative director, Hamza Sultan (romantic synergy) , as the colour scheme for the music video is not only memorable but embodies summer and zeal.

Without any further waffle. You have got to give this song a listen before the temperature gets lower than 20° !! Catch it whilst it’s still hot:

I’ll also be sharing 5 more picks of my favourite summer tracks so be sure to stay tuned in by subscribing to my blog! Lots of love y’all.

M