Needle Paw (Reissue)

Naomi Saalfield first came to the world’s attention in 2012 as Nai Palm, the frontwoman of Australia’s Hiatus Kaiyote and a wildling rock star with soul-music chops and a steampunk aesthetic. Their 2012 debut album, Tawk Tomahawk, would position Hiatus Kaiyote as key purveyors of future soul—a sound that marries the spacious production values of EDM and jazz with the lush harmonies and boom-bap rhythms of neo-soul.

Needle Paw is a minimalist’s dream. The raw, stripped-down performances are antithetical to Hiatus Kaiyote’s lush, swollen sound. The album breaks down the complex mechanisms driving the average Hiatus record in a catabolic process that isolates the ingredient most essential to Nai Palm: the human voice. Her byzantine harmonies are less important to the final mix than the primal timbre of the voice, whether isolated or in concert with others. There are no concessions to trend or enormous features. Needle Paw is a reliquary for Saalfield’s travels and influences, from Bulgarian choral music and the songs of Saharan nomads to rock and 1990s R&B. There is even a nod to a shape-shifting character from Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time” series on “Mobius,” where she sings of the “ancient psychic tandem war elephant,” whose power is a healing telepathy.

Tracklisting

1. Wititj (Lightning Snake) Pt 1
2. Atari
3. Crossfire / So Into You
4. Haiku
5. Mobius
6.  Molasses
7. Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
8. Atoll
9. When The Knife
10. Blackstar / Pyramid Song / Breathing Underwater
11. Borderline With My Atoms
12. Homebody
13. Wititj (Lightning Snake) Pt 2