“It’s been a minute,” beams singer-songwriter and producer Nao, waving me down the stairs into her east London studio. She’s shared this same space with a group of mates since she started out as a session singer for Pulp, and though she’s had her fair share of stints at fancy spots like Abbey Road, the majority of her music still starts its life here, including her highly anticipated new album Jupiter.
Last time we met, almost a decade ago, Nao (pronounced “neigh-oh”) was a rising star, riding high on buzzy collaborations with the dance duo Disclosure and musician-producer Mura Masa. That year, she had just bagged third place in the BBC’s Sound Of tipster poll (beating Dua Lipa, who came seventh) and was on the cusp of her big breakthrough moment. Not all of this attention seemed to sit easily with Nao, now 37, who told me back then that she preferred hiding behind her hands for photoshoots and recording songs out of sight in her bedroom cupboard.
