One for the divine electronic audio fans – producer and artist NAO crafts with an impressive balancing of emotion and professional precision.
Awake is the latest single to emerge, a finely-built soundscape of softly euphoric synths, deep house warmth, and delicate, lighter contrasting vocals.
Coming in at a fairly humble three minutes and twelve seconds, for electronic dance music, Awake follows the recognisable pattern of a strong yet humble riff, and the vocal character is equally distinct but modestly utilised throughout. The result is a radio-ready single but also a beautifully engaging underground piece, which naturally satisfies both the desire for that anthemic energy and the softer, more sublime escapism of a timeless EDM instrumental.
Balance is key, and masterfully employed. Even structurally, the track keep things hypnotic and subtly interesting – the final third presents a whole new melodic and lyrical expression, followed by a brilliant build up and drop back into that immersive familiarity of the instrumental. This switch in design is crucial in gifting the track a sense of completion and songwriting strength in unison with the clearly skilful nature of the production. It’s a winning combination, and a dream to let play at volume.
A mild earworm juxtaposed by a wholly enchanting realm of repetition and rising energy. NAO is one to watch this year.
Find NAO on Instagram.
