Album Review: Jupiter by Nao

On her fourth album Jupiter, Nao is a smitten subject, and her sincerity and passion radiates like natural light filling a room. Wildflowers is a breezy, kick-drumming opener ('If you really love me, then say you love me… / Time should wait for us but it won't'), like Lovefool by The Cardigans but with the Damoclean threat of mortality. Wary of life's eroding roads, she urges: 'Catch me and I'll catch you back / We'll keep falling 'til the end of time' - these wayfarer lovers will defiantly not run out of path! Channeling the funk of Kali Uchis and Bootsy Collins, Elevate captures a rhapsodic episode of swimming through the cosmos: 'We push through the stars, how you navigate'.

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Nao survived Saturn's hardening, a rite of passage that evolves a girl into a woman. And now, basking in the light at the end of the tunnel, Nao's fourth studio album ‘Jupiter’ is a reaping of what's sewn. Opening with ‘Wildflower’, a vibrant declaration of arrival, Nao celebrates both living and creating life. ‘Poolside’ is reminiscent of ’80s groove, while ‘We All Win’ serves as an infectious dance track that transports you to warm sands and sweet kisses of breeze.

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While her 2021 album 'And Then Life Was Beautiful' very much arrived in the shadow of the COVID-19 crisis, Nao still managed to conjure up a dose of sensual light from the within the darkness, even in the middle of facing her own tough circumstances. Diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ahead of its release, the Londoner soon made the decision not to tour the record, in favour of focusing on her own health and happiness; on its follow-up, 'Jupiter', the impact of that decision very much shows. Even the track titles of her fourth album ('Elevate', 'Happy People', 'Better Days') nod to the sense of joy and hope that radiates from the heart of the album, while opener 'Wildflowers' sparkles with a serene, unfettered energy that blends into the rest of its songs.

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