Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
British singer NAO received an official induction to the music scene when she was chosen to feature alongside acts such as Sam Smith, Lorde and The Weeknd on the new Disclosure album. She appears on a track called Superego, which she performed with the duo at Wildlife Festival in June. Although Disclosure is the first mainstream act to get behind NAO, collaborations have opened doors for her all the way along. She caught the attention of Radio 1, Apple Music and many influential blogs by working with Jai Paul’s brother A. K. Paul and recent Polydor signing Mura Masa. A new EP from NAO followed to further acclaim, especially the poppiest track Zillionaire. So far she's released music via her own label, Little Tokyo Recordings, but I hear she’s now signed to a major label (details to be announced). After appearing at The Great Escape and Glastonbury, she’s got her own London headline show scheduled at Heaven in December. It’s a big venue to fill, but by then she should have no trouble if her progress continues at the current pace. However, I have to wonder if there’s a limit to how large her fanbase can grow. A nice voice, big hair and cool songs are all good, but there are plenty of artists who tick those boxes. Now she needs to prove she has the star quality and songs to outshine her competitors.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBamiHT64uw]