Nai Palm is the kind of artist that arrives once in a generation, a three-time Grammy-nominated songwriter from Australia. She is a composer, instrumentalist, producer, vocalist and poet who approaches these self-taught disciplines with an intuitive, infectious grace, which has sent her on a journey to sculpt songs that have been received and treasured across the world.
It is a world she has travelled many times over with her band Hiatus Kaiyote who, along with Nai Palm, have become household names since they first began playing together in Melbourne in 2011.
Hiatus Kaiyote’s first R&B Grammy nomination, for their song ‘Nakamarra,’ was followed by a second for ‘Breathing Underwater,’ from their sophomore album, 2015’s Choose Your Weapon.
Their music defied categorisation: some called it ‘neo-soul’, others ‘future soul’; the band calls it, simply, wondercore.
Their records and live shows won them raves in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and in The New York Times, where Jon Pareles wrote that, ‘Hiatus Kaiyote’s music stretches and bends every parameter.’
That spirit of blending began with Nai, growing up in her mother’s Melbourne home, vibrating with the sounds of Motown and flamenco, African music and hip-hop. After her mother died of breast cancer, the 11-year-old Nai went to live with a foster family high in the Australian Alps. By the time the adolescent Nai found her way back to Melbourne, she had acquired three things: an abiding, spiritual connection to the land; an uncanny, self-taught mastery of two instruments, the guitar and her own voice; and the ability to write songs that were as complex as her influences.
This is a free Great Southern Nights show on Sunday, 30 March at the Beach Hotel, with support Juman and Kalakari from 4pm. Great Southern Nights 2025 takes place from 21 March to 6 April, featuring 300+ gigs across New South Wales.
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