ONE OF MUSIC’S MOST ICONIC FRONT PERSONS IS A HAPPY GADFLY

In 2014, up for “Best R&B Performance”, she strutted into her first Grammys looking like a punk. Or like a rare tropical bird. Or like one of those (even rarer) happy metal babes. No one could quite put their finger on it, but there was something enigmatic about her. Something un-categorical.

Her look was all her own, and that’s exactly the look she was going for.

Naomi Saalfield, better known as Nai Palm, is one of the most iconic front persons in music history.

Lead singer and guitarist for the already iconic band Hiatus Kaiyote, her physical aesthetic, playing style, and songwriting are all equally unique. I mean, her nickname is Nai Palm – she was an easy choice for the Gadfly music series.

Music That Don’t Fit in a Box

Though you may not guess it from looking at her, or from Hiatus Kaiyote’s album cover art, Nai Palm is a big fan of jazz chords. “Nakamarra”, the song that landed her first Grammy nomination, is almost exclusively made up of major 7th chords. (Sure, as far as jazz chords go, the major 7th is probably the most accessible. You might call it a “gateway chord”. But, it’s a tasty lil jazz chord nonetheless, and anyone who says otherwise is a dork.)

The hook for “Nakamarra” just goes back and forth between D Major 7th and C Major 7th a whole bunch– and goddamn, it’s catchy. But “Nakamarra” is what Nai Palm might call an accessible “gateway song” into the world of her totally unorthodox songwriting.

Hiatus Kaiyote’s first album, Tawk Tomahawk, kind of blew open the Neo-Soul genre back in 2013. This was partly due to the instrumentation– a combination of typical acoustic soul instruments (bass, drums, guitar, & keys) with psychedelic, futuristic synths, a Roland Space Echo, tons of layered background vocals, and even more layers of various hand percussion instruments.

It was also partly due to the band’s proggy edge: its constant experimentation with rhythm and weird time signatures, lots of seemingly random and sudden tonal shifts right in the middle of songs.

But, it was mostly due, in my opinion, to Nai Palm’s out-of-the-box songwriting style. As she’s stated in many interviews, she generally writes the basics of a song (the chord structure, lyrics, and vocal melodies) and then brings it to the band.

Listening to one of her songs feels like walking through a dream – it doesn’t move in a straight line, it’s constantly morphing, you never know where it will take you next. The lyrics are equally dreamy – poetic, impressionistic, what I’d call “spaced out” in the best way. The structures are asymmetrical, the chords are dense and don’t care about key signatures.

None of this is normal for Neo-Soul, or Soul, or R&B: the three genres the band is usually tossed into. So, they made their own genre: Future Soul. You don’t really get more outsider than that.

“People think we’re a punk aesthetic

because of how we look, but the music is soul —

and that contrast is part of who we are.”
~Nai Palm

The Look is the Feel

At the Grammys, as always, Nai Palm did her own makeup. She’s talked about how makeup artists tend not to understand her style. They end up making her look like a clown. Her heavy eyeliner, bold, colorful eyeshadow, and even bolder lipstick combined with her “punk” hairstyles, piercings, and tattoos have made her immediately identifiable.

Rather than creating a character or putting on a show, Nai Palm’s look is clearly genuine self-expression. The look, the songwriting, the singular vocal tone and playing style – they’re all a reflection of her spirit.

“The way that I adorn myself is an extension

of who I am: my sense of spirituality,

my sense of playfulness, my sense

of curiosity in the world.”

~Nai Palm

There is no doubt that Nai Palm’s undeniable talent sets her apart in a music industry overcome with predictability. But, to me, the thing that rings out most about her, the thing that truly gives her an edge, is her presence. Not just on stage, but in every video I’ve ever seen of her – she radiates beauty and positivity and love.

Even when she’s not smiling, she’s smiling. And in this historical moment when negativity is so often fetishized, when suggesting the world is a beautiful place can get you labeled as ‘ignorant’, Nai Palm’s unfaltering smile might be her biggest rebellion.