Nearing the end of May, Nao returned to social media – namely Twitter – to let fans know that she’s preparing to release new music. The wait flew by when on Wednesday afternoon (June 13), the acclaimed singer debuted her reflective track, “Another Lifetime.”
In a statement issued to The Fader, Nao said the release was inspired by “a tumultuous and conflicted period in my life.” The songbird said the somber conclusion of a “long-term relationship” inspired her to pen a track that’s about “finding peace with ‘the end’ and what that means on a few levels.”
The instrumental oozes a feel of the late 90s into early 2000s R&B/hip-hop, a period that heavily influenced Nao’s style, as she mentioned in a 2016 VIBE profile. Given her knowledge of Donny Hathaway to Nas’ discography, Nao absorbed “an amazing mixing bowl of music and I feel like those are the ingredients now that I use to make my own music,” she said.
creating something special 4 u on my next record 🎈@Chineke4Change pic.twitter.com/lvDnLDULUl
— NAO (@thisNAO) May 22, 2018
Watch the video for “Another Lifetime” below.