Nao's sophomore record Saturn, she says, brings in all the voices that tell her story. “You know Kendrick has all these characters within his voice and within his album?” she muses. “I’ve found this whole other character. She turns up a lot on this album.” For the east London-raised Nao, the project is a transition and metamorphosing her voice is a way of addressing pivotal new chapters in her life. Turning 30 last Christmas was an emotional turning point for the musician, one that opened her mind to new perspectives. Saturn is about the process of embracing adulthood and contemplating the naivety of youth. It’s both a celebration of new possibilities and a chance to reflect.
On Saturn Nao is bold and experimental, eager to push things forward and unafraid to offload ideas that have been weighing her down. On the skipping, dancehall-flavored banger “Drive and Disconnect”, she raps of her desire to seize the moment, to power positively forward and swerve the distractions of the modern world. “It sounds cheesy, but it’s about getting in your car and getting out disconnecting from your phone and your laptop, not replying to emails, just getting away from everything that is stressful. And feeling great about that moment!”
The slinky, pitch-black R&B track “Make It Out Alive” on the other hand, confronts the kind of drama that haunts you for years. “I feel like everybody has a dose of that in their life,” she comments. “For me, it’s like in the middle of the night, when I can’t sleep and my mind is swilling and sometimes it can get too extreme. You feel like you can’t make it out.” There’s a real sense push and pull to Saturn it’s complex and conflicted, but there’s a pervading optimism that makes it timeless, just like Nao herself. “It’s not just about heartbreak, it’s a sense of rebirth,” she says. “It’s soul-searching, you know?”
