For All We Know (Nao album)

For All We Know
Studio album by Nao
Released 29 July 2016
Recorded 2014–16
Genre
Length 53:39
Label
  • RCA
  • Little Tokyo Recordings
Producer
Nao chronology
February 15 EP
(2015)February 15 EP2015		 For All We Know
(2016)
Singles from For All We Know
  1. "Bad Blood"
    Released: 22 October 2015
  2. "Fool to Love"
    Released: 24 February 2016
  3. "Girlfriend"
    Released: 23 May 2016
  4. "In the Morning"
    Released: 17 February 2017

For All We Know is the debut studio album by British electronic singer-songwriter Nao. It was released on 29 July 2016 by RCA and Little Tokyo Recordings. It has guest features by Abhi//Dijon and A. K. Paul, and received critical acclaim upon release.

Recording and production

The concept for the album came about when Nao began to feature vocals with other artists, such as Disclosure and Mura Masa. After the collaboration that she did with Disclosure on their song "Superego", it inspired Nao to work further and deeper into that genre of music. She wanted to make an album which was to bring her to fame and, after the collaborations, wanted her fans to have something to look forward to.

The album title, For All We Know was named so after the 1934 jazz song of the same name, as a reference to the artist's background in the genre.[5] She also opened up about the album title in a YouTube trilogy she created to tell her fans about the background of creating the album. She said, "So, for me, that kind of just sums up everything for me. It's just such a lovely message So love me, love me tonight/tomorrow was made for some/tomorrow may never come/for all we know. I just thought that was so beautiful because it just says that tomorrow is not guaranteed so anything that we want to do, we have to make it happen today and I think that just kind of sums up this journey for me".[6] In an interview with Billboard, Nao advanced that the album was "a definite nod" to 1990s music and an attempt at transposing it to actuality.[7]

Part of the production from the album was worked on with British DJ and electronic and R&B musician GRADES. GRADES contributed to a very soothing electronic sound to the album. Two of the other albums' producers such as Loxe and Jungle added a funk touch. Nao's music and voice were compared to musicians FKA twigs[8][9] and Kelela.[9][4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Consequence of SoundB[12]
Exclaim!9/10[13]
The Guardian[3]
NME[2]
Pitchfork7.9/10[4]
Spin8/10[1]

Upon release, the album received critical acclaim. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, For All We Know received an average score of 82 out of 100, based on 14 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[10]

Writing for Exclaim!, Michael J. Warren hailed the album as "a dynamic listen from start to finish".[13] It was also reported in a number of articles that the record and the style of music that was presented on the record could have been highly influenced on the early work of American musician Prince.

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Ground Decibels 2016 Best Albums 2016
N/A
The Guardian The Best Albums of 2016 2016
39
NME NME's Albums of the Year 2016 2016
30
Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2016
70
The Skinny Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016
18

Track listing

For All We Know
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Intro (Like Velvet)"
0:36
2."Get to Know Ya"
2:56
3."Inhale Exhale"
3:03
4."Voice Memo 161"
  • Joshua
  • Christian Gregory
  • Miles James
  • Nao
0:23
5."Happy"
  • Joshua
  • Gregory
  • James
  • Nao
  • Gregory
  • James
  • GRADES
2:52
6."Voice Memo 162"
  • Joshua
  • Gregory
  • James
  • Nao
0:13
7."Adore You" (featuring Abhi//Dijon)
  • Joshua
  • Abhi Raju
  • Dijon Duenas
  • Leonardo Vianna Bozza
  • Nao
  • LOXE
  • GRADES[a]
3:31
8."In the Morning"
  • Joshua
  • Sam Stubbings
  • John Calvert
  • Nao
  • Calvert
4:06
9."Trophy" (featuring A. K. Paul)
3:48
10."Bad Blood"
  • Joshua
  • Traynor
  • Nao
  • GRADES
4:00
11."DYWM"
  • Joshua
  • James Luke Wood
  • Nao
  • GRADES
4:55
12."We Don't Give A"
  • Joshua
  • Traynor
  • Calvert
  • Calvert
  • GRADES
3:20
13."Give Me a Little"
  • Joshua
  • Rowan Perkins
  • Nao
  • LOXE
  • GRADES
3:47
14."Fool to Love"
  • Joshua
  • Traynor
  • Nao
  • GRADES
3:27
15."Voice Memo 4 (Say Yes)"
  • Nao
0:33
16."Blue Wine"
  • Joshua
  • Wood
  • Nao
  • Calvert
3:38
17."Girlfriend"
3:45
18."Feels Like (Perfume)"
  • Joshua
  • Wood
  • Royce Wood Junior
4:46

Notes

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 53
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[20] 76
Irish Albums (IRMA)[21] 91
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[22] 3
Scottish Albums (OCC)[23] 63
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 68
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 17
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[26] 3

References

  1. 1 2 Reeves, Mosi (29 July 2016). "Review: Nao Fumbles Toward Ecstasy on 'For All We Know'". Spin. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 Cooper, Leonie (3 August 2016). "Nao - 'For All We Know' Review". NME. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Empire, Kitty (31 July 2016). "Nao: For All We Know review – retro soul debut with funk to spare". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 Monroe, Jazz (2 August 2016). "Nao: For All We Know". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Nao's Debut Album Is a Statement of Intent From a Rising Star". Pigeons & Planes. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  6. ↑ Nao (4 August 2016). "For All We Know - Episode 3" – via YouTube.
  7. ↑ Martin, Paley (13 November 2015). "Nao Talks Upcoming Album, Working With Disclosure & Undying Love for '90s Music". Billboard. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Beta, Andy (28 July 2016). "Meet Nao, Avant-R&B Star Moving From Back-Up Singer Shadows". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  9. 1 2 Kellman, Andy. "Nao - Biography". AllMusic.
  10. 1 2 "For All We Know by Nao". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  11. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Nao - For All We Know". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  12. ↑ Henry, Dusty (25 July 2016). "Nao – For All We Know". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  13. 1 2 J. Warren, Michael (27 July 2016). "Nao - For All We Know". Exclaim!. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "GdB 2016 Best Albums". Ground Decibels. December 18, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  15. ↑ "The Best Albums of 2016: 40-31". The Guardian. November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  16. ↑ "NME's Albums of the Year 2016". NME. November 24, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade. November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2016". The Skinny. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Nao – For All We Know" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Nao – For All We Know" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 31, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  23. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  24. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Nao – For All We Know". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  25. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  26. ↑ "Nao – Chart history" Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums for Nao. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
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