Nao on fighting Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and finding happiness on new album 'Jupiter' • Interview • DIY Magazine

When listening to her fourth studio album, Nao wants you to look up at the moon – or, more accurately, the searingly bright star-like object in its periphery. In astrology, Jupiter represents expansion and growth and by naming her new record after the solar system’s largest planet, she’s hoping to give listeners a sense of the joyous, freshly self-confident music contained within.

“It’s just there, good fortune, growth and wisdom, hovering right above us,” she says about bringing the symbolism of one of the night sky’s brightest jewels to her new work. “No matter who you are, where you are, I love the idea that when people listen to this music and look up, they will have a piece of that joy too. It’s touchable.”

If Jupiter does indeed represent growth, then it could not be more appropriate. The London-based musician - officially known as Neo Jessica Joshua – has never sounded more at ease in herself than on the eleven tracks that make up ‘Jupiter’. From the vibrant, fresh-air optimism of ‘Happy People’ to the sleek and seductive R&B of ‘Poolside’ via the open-hearted tinges of country on ‘30 Something’, the Grammy, Mercury and BRIT Award nominee effortlessly glides through musical styles, an artist in her full stride.

While Nao describes ‘Jupiter’ as a “sister album” to her second record, 2018’s ‘Saturn’, it’s also somewhat of a spiritual sequel; ‘Saturn’ emerged from the dawn of an exceedingly challenging period in the musician’s life, its title chosen to convey that planet’s representation of life transition. “For me, going through my late 20s into my 30s was a real hard time, an emotional rollercoaster. I had a lot going on in my life, which made things fall apart.”

It was during this period that Nao was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, better known as chronic fatigue syndrome, a disabling autoimmune condition that she says is “like having the flu, all the time”. Her days were waylaid by brain fog, aching muscles and joints and total exhaustion, all of which was compounded by the fact that she became a mother in 2020.

“When you have the flu, you can just about get to the bathroom and then you get back to bed immediately because that’s all you can do,” she says. “And that’s what having chronic fatigue syndrome feels like. Expect you look fine on the outside, so no one understands it.”

“There was a real hopefulness, a heaviness was lifting from me, I could feel it in real time.”

If ‘Saturn’ documented Nao coming to terms with the condition, then 2021’s ‘And Then Life Was Beautiful’ was a marker on her return to her true self. As she told DIY at the time, that album was borne from a realisation that “happiness isn’t a destination” but rather “just something that appears momentarily throughout the day”. She now reflects that she was roughly “halfway through the journey” when that album was released, but now ‘Jupiter’ sees her throw off those shackles for good.

As everyday moments of joy became more commonplace – the simple benefits of nights out with friends feeling more valuable than ever – she knew that her next record would be one that would seek to transfer her newfound inner wellbeing to her audience. “I’m not saying that I’m in a constant state of happiness now, because I don’t believe that exists,” she says. “I believe it just sort of comes and goes for a few minutes a day, or once a week, or whatever. But I’m certainly in a much better place and actually I didn’t realise how much confidence I’d lost during this time of being away. I didn’t realise what being unwell had taken from me. I thought it was just an illness and a physical thing, but actually it had taken away a lot of my confidence and it changed my body quite a lot as well.”

As she began to feel stronger, all aspects of her life seemed to improve. Motherhood became easier, and discovering that she was pregnant with her second child only two months into the writing process for ‘Jupiter’ gave her an additional lift, a boost of fuel to her already revving engines.

She soon made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles to record, as if to solidify this reinvigorated confidence. The round-the-clock warm weather “speeded up the healing process” and she set to work with the album’s two key producers, Loxe and Stint. “When we got there, I started to feel another 10% better immediately, it just opened me up creatively,” she reflects. “I just felt happier because I wasn’t in pain, and I wasn’t struggling to do the basics. It was the next step in my healing journey, and I was probably about 80% recovered. I was like, ‘Fuck, I’m going to do it, I’m going to get out of this’. There was a real hopefulness, a heaviness was lifting from me, I could feel it in real time.”

It is no coincidence, then, that the album rings out with a message of hope. ‘Elevate’ bursts with the irrepressible energy of someone who has just mastered levitation, while ‘We All Win’ shares in the joy of spreading positivity far and wide. As she sings on ‘30 Something’, “I know that a good thing’s coming if I let my worries slip away, not the same old thoughts on different days”.

“I just love so many different types of music and I don’t see why I should have to adhere to one.”

Since her emergence over a decade ago as a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Nao has chalked up an eye-watering list of musical collaborators – from Stormzy and Lianne La Havas to Jarvis Cocker and Mura Masa – so it is no surprise that ‘Jupiter’ is as musically diverse as it is. Afrobeat rhythms, silky R&B, wonky pop melodies and dark electronic ambience all coexist in Nao’s hands.

“I don’t have any rules,” she explains. “I just love so many different types of music and I don’t see why I should have to adhere to one. Albums can jump around and mine always have done, because I’m just inspired by so much.”

She attributes this to being the youngest of a gaggle of siblings that were all obsessed with music from across the map, from old school UK garage to American R&B via Boyz II Men; nu-metal icons Limp Bizkit also get a nod. Her flexibiity in the studio is a quality she appreciates in collaborators, too. When working on ‘Happy People’, she brought a densely percussive track by serpentwithfeet to the table as a creative catalyst and with producers Loxe and Stint on board, the three quickly found themselves experimenting with new rhythms, landing on the fidgeting, syncopated backbone of that album centrepiece.

Nao’s health issues prevented her from returning to the live arena post-pandemic, with her last significant tour having been in 2019. A brief run of four intimate shows in late 2024, including an acclaimed showing at the Hackney Round Chapel, served as a test run, and while she admits to a certain amount of insecurity about the challenge – she called the recent shows “a kick up the arse” – 2025 looks to host a major return to the stage. With strings of dates announced for the UK, Europe and North America, she is being careful to manage the transition back into the touring lifestyle. Days of recovery are planned into her schedule, but with Nao seemingly firing on all cylinders and a high-octane new album under her belt, her comeback shows have a sense of must-see about them.

Above all, Nao wants ‘Jupiter’ to serve as a beacon of light and hope to anyone who might need it. It was not long since an album defined by the tenets of expansion and growth would have seemed a faraway dream for Nao, and yet here she is.

She is reminded of a visit she received during a low period from a fellow chronic fatigue syndrome sufferer who had fully recovered and had cycled across London to visit her. “I was like, ‘Wow’. For me, that was all I needed – that one person to say they had healed. I was like, ‘I’m going to be that person as well’,” she nods. “That’s where I’m at now, I’d say I’m healed from it. Recovery is very recent and so I do feel it’s a bit fragile, but I’m out of the woods.

“If anyone reads this and they’ve experienced it, or if they know someone with long COVID or an autoimmune condition that’s similar, then hear this: if one person has healed from it, then there is a way out.”

’Jupiter’ is out 21st February via Little Tokyo / Sony.

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