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 Little Tokyo Recordings
Producer
NAO chronology
February 15 EP
(2015)		 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

For All We Know is the debut studio album conducted and written by British electronic singer-songwriter NAO. It was released on 29 July 2016.

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.[1] 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".[2] 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.[3]

Half of the production from the album was worked on with British DJ and electronic/R&B musician GRADES. GRADES contributed a very soothing electronic sound to the album. Two of the other albums' producers such as Loxe and Jungle added a funk touch. One other producer named John Calvert added a dark experimental twist which was said to be compared, to a certain extent, with experimental musicians FKA twigs and Kimbra.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Consequence of SoundB[6]
Exclaim!9/10[7]
NME[8]
Pitchfork Media7.9/10[9]
Spin8/10[10]

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% based on 14 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[4]

Writing for Exclaim!, Michael J. Warren hailed the album as "a dynamic listen from start to finish".[7] 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
The Guardian The Best Albums of 2016 2016
NME NME's Albums of the Year 2016 2016
Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2016
The Skinny Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016

Track listing

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
 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
 4:00
11. "DYWM"  
  • Joshua
  • James Luke Wood
 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
 3:27
15. "Voice Memo 4 (Say Yes)"  
  • NAO
 0:33
16. "Blue Wine"  
  • Joshua
  • Wood
  • NAO
  • Calvert
 3:38
17. "Girlfriend"  
  • NAO
  • GRADES
  • ST!NT
 3:45
18. "Feels Like (Perfume)"  
  • Joshua
  • Wood
  • Royce Wood Junior
 4:46

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 53
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[16] 76
Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] 91
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[18] 3
Scottish Albums (OCC)[19] 63
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 68
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 17
US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[22] 3

References

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

External links

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