Nao: "Inhale Exhale"
Last summer, “So Good”, a choppy, minimal funk track surfaced online, featuring the perky, filtered vocals of London singer Nao. It sounded similar in sage-burning energy to Jai Paul’s “Jasmine”, and sure enough the co-credit on the track was a songwriter/producer named A.K. Paul. The music world convulsed with the revelation: there are two elusive Paul brothers making music!
Whether the rumours are true that the sibling duo is the muscle behind Nao’s new EP February 15, no matter. “Inhale Exhale” is the second standout track from this release, powered by crisp drums, a lazy, fat-ass bassline, and Nao’s molten vocals. Her words curl with the same sprightly melodic spring as quintessential late ’90s/early ’00s R&B singers like Lil Mo, 702’s Kameelah Williams and SWV’s Coko. It’s a star-making vocal grain; emphatic and expressive, but seductive—not intimidating—in its power. And it gives “Inhale Exhale”, where the producer (unnamed, officially) reimagines Raphael Saadiq’s head-nodding take on lush, live band nu-soul, a sort of nostalgic vibe.
Neo soul’s been back for a minute, but this song might best honor the early aughts R&B subgenre. At its peak—after spilling into hip-hop via Common’s panned Electric Circus album—it became a sort of parody of hotep tropes, but neo soul’s lasting legacy is that it was decades ahead of its time. It did this, of course, by looking back into house, funk, and across the way to indie rock and electro. This genre-mixing typifies what Jai Paul does for today’s listeners and, whether he’s involved or not, Nao improves on it.
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