Album Review
NAO - And Then Life Was Beautiful
4 StarsA radiant, joyous record.
It’s probably easier for someone who became a new parent over lockdown than most others to conjure up a title like ‘And Then Life Was Beautiful’. But what NAO - who gave birth to her daughter in Spring 2020 - does a very good job at across this, her third full-length, is imbuing the whole thing with that same sense of positivity as its name. Take ‘Woman’, a funky collaboration with Lianne La Havas. Or ‘Burn Out’, a track which tackles the stasis associated with the condition impeccably lyrically, but still holds hope musically. The serpentwithfeet-featuring ‘Postcards’ is as slinky as it comes, meanwhile, and then there’s the earwormy ‘Glad That You’re Gone’, somehow a wholly positive break-up song without hints of irony or bitterness. And if ‘And Then Life Was Beautiful’ wasn’t the radiant, joyous record that it is, then that alone would be an achievement, surely?
Read More
Positive Thinking: NAO
On third LP ‘And Then Life Was Beautiful’, NAO is seeking out the good stuff and keeping her glass half full.
30th September 2021, 12:00pm
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes are on the cover of DIY’s September 2021 issue
Our newest print edition - out now! - also features The Killers, Common, The Vaccines, NAO and loads more.
3rd September 2021, 12:00am
Tracks: Lizzo ft Cardi B, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes, Katy B and more
The biggest and best of this week’s new releases.
13th August 2021, 12:00am
Nao unveils new single ‘Wait’
Lifted from her new album ‘And Then Life Was Beautiful’.
12th August 2021, 12:00am
Popular right now
Featuring Green Day, English Teacher, Everything Everything, Caity Baser and more!