“Technically, I describe it as a my fourth child,” Lady Nade says of her latest release, Identity, before admonishing me for asking her to compare it to her previous three albums.
By Graeme Smith
She then laughs and adds: “I truly love them all, but I think Identity, although it’s the youngest, is probably the most mature.”
Mature is certainly the right word. The Bristol-based artist has dug deep for her new record, using a period of Covid-inflicted self-discovery to reflect on several aspects of her life and bring these reflections together.
“I got sober, began recovery, had therapy and started to understand more about my mental health, neurodivergence, family patterns and heritage,” she explains when I ask her how much of that thinking made it into the album. “I began asking questions about who I was beneath all the things I had learnt to mask or hide in order to navigate the world.”
The final product feels bold and unafraid to have difficult conversations, but Lady Nade confesses to be a little terrified of putting herself out there. “I think it’s scary being vulnerable and expressing my raw and honest self through music,” she says, “but I’ve found that the more I show up as my authentic self, the more it creates a platform for other people to feel safe expressing themselves too.”
I have to agree as I found Identity to be a deeply engaging album from start to finish. It opens bold and brassy with its title track. In it Lady Nade opens up about who she is while simultaneously making the point that we are more than our labels. Her vocals are smooth and soulful in the verse before taking on a hidden power in a catchy chorus.
The record includes two tracks we’ve featured before on these pages. One of Us slows things down for an honest and reflective early highlight. The repetition in the chorus cleverly mirrors its theme of breaking free of intergenerational trauma. Bloom finishes the album strongly. A tribute to her grandfather, it closes things in a understatedly celebratory mood.
Elsewhere Rainbow is soft, acoustic and delicately defiant. Lady Nade shows us her whole spectrum through a warm and encouraging arrangement reminiscent I Am What I Am from the musical La Cage aux Folles. Waiting for a Train moves along like Iggy Pop’s The Passenger. The classic references are aplenty in Lady Nade’s compositions, and I was interested to learn about her influences.
“For me, my biggest influence is people and real-life experiences, conversations and stories,” she says. “I’m fascinated by what people go through, how we connect with one another and the different ways we navigate being human.”
On that point, Identity doesn’t shy away from the difficulties people like Lady Nade face while navigating being human. Powerless, for example, is soft and dreamy, feeling like a surrender. The mood shifts during a passionate crescendo where she takes back the power. Sober is bright, triumphant but also a mea culpa.
Stand comes out the other side of turmoil with a powerful anthem and another highlight. It sets up a self-assured final sequence of tracks that includes the gently cinematic Smoke and Mirrors. It tells the important story of the entertainment industry’s difficult past (and present) with race. Masks is smoky and jazzy, unpacking our tendency to put on a brave face and hide our true feelings, a confession of Lady Nade’s tendency to do this in her life.
Collectively the album gives us shades of realness tied together through varied flavours of classic pop.
I was pleased to learn that Lady Nade will be hitting the road with the album in November bringing along a six-piece band. Dates include London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Brighton, Guildford, her hometown Bristol and, luckily for us, York. She plays at Helmsley Arts Centre on 14 November 2026.
I must thank Lady Nade for opening up to us both in her album and in our interview. She’s a wonderful performer with an ear for the classic and the ability to eloquently put a point across. I’ll certainly be returning to her music.
If you want to keep up to date with all that she is doing, you can by heading to her website, and by following her on Facebook, Spotify, Bandcamp, Instagram, and Soundcloud.
Identity is out now, and you can listen to it below.
Supported by Musosoup #SustainableCurator