Naïka comes onto the Somerset House stage with the force of a body-rolling angel. Dressed in a floaty white mini-skirt and bralet set, draped in a floor-length cloak and paired with matching Jimmy Choo knee-high boots, she is an immediate, intoxicating vision.
“I’m so happy to be here,” she gushes. But though she greets us – “you guys look beautiful” – for the early part of her set, we are very much observers of her world. The opening track from her debut album ‘ECLESIA’, ‘Welcome to Eclesia’, sets the tone: she struts, drops to her knees and flicks her hair with the honed instincts of a natural-born performer.
All of it is hard to fault: Naïka has glistening, pitch-perfect vocals from start to finish. ‘Soleil’ – sung entirely in French before seamlessly blending into ‘Killing Me Softly’ – shows off the warmth and glistening richness of her voice.
But it is only later, when she sits down on a stool at the front of the stage to talk directly to us, that the polish begins to give way to something more open-hearted. “I’ve always felt like an outsider and considered myself an in-betweener,” she says. She then leans into a gorgeous acoustic version of her song ‘Layers’, which explores the complexities of her identity as a Haitian woman with Middle Eastern heritage.
The crowd, who are predominantly female and noticeably diverse, hang on her every word. “This was written at the height of my identity crisis,” she tells us. Suddenly, it feels like she’s one of our friends. Naïka’s music is bound to resonate with anyone who has ever felt caught between cultures, countries, or unsure of where they belong. Hearing it sung live makes it feel as though it comes straight from her soul.
There’s a saxophonist and a band on hand to give Naïka some backup, adding a soulful, easy-breezy flavour to the evening. Fittingly, the sun starts to set as ‘What a Day’ – a song that compares minor human issues like breaking a nail to global tragedies – blares out in all its anthemic glory. It is a moment of serendipity that captures the venue's magic.
Things dial up into party mode, too. ‘1+1’ gets the audience dancing as one, while her biggest hit, ‘One Track Mind’, is greeted with squeals and cheers. Naïka forms a heart with her hands as she sings a soulful rendition of Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’ as a parting gift. In response, hundreds of us mirror the gesture in unison. She’s cracked herself open for us – and we love her for it.
