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Music

Nao's Tiny Desk Concert Will Fully Soothe Your Soul

The singer performed a bunch of her tracks, including "If You Ever" and a stripped down version of "Bad Blood.”
Lead image still from Nao's NPR Tiny Desk Concert​
Lead image still from Nao's NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Nao's last two albums, For All We Know and Saturn, are worth listening to for a bunch of reasons. Their twinkling electronics. Their rich, satisfying beats. The way she takes classic sounds, like R&B and funk, and coats them in a thick layer of futuristic gloss to create something new. And then there's her voice, an effortless instrument of its own that would sound just as good in an empty church as it does when pressed tightly among studio production.

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Anyway, she's gone and done an NPR Tiny Desk Concert – which as we know, is where good artists go so we can see how good they really are. Without all the synth and beats and tech, what we're left with is Nao's beautiful voice, which sounds like it could be from any era, timeless and gospel style. In the clip below, she performs four tracks – "If You Ever", "Bad Blood'", "Orbit" and "Make It Out Alive" – and if you're having a shitty Monday, these will fully soothe your soul. Enjoy.

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