DON’T ASK!: Natanya doesn’t need permission to blow your mind

“This is an anthem about girl power, agency and refusing to wait for permission.”

If you’ve never heard of alternative pop auteur Natanya, you’re about to. She is pleased to make your acquaintance and was born ready to submerge you in her idiosyncratic blend of unflinchingly honest lyricism with dashes of electro-R&B and bedroom pop, spoons covered in grunge and a soulful essence powered by her perfect pitch, Nigerian/Trinidadian heritage and childhood training at the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy. 

Though she grew up in a musical household – her dad a talented church bongo player and  Motown devotee, her mum an 80’s funk obsessive with singing chops of her own – it was free Deezer trial that changed the course of her musical journey.

On that platform, she was introduced to sonic inspirations like Tyler, The Creator. GCSE lunchtimes soon transformed into experimental playgrounds of both clashing and cohesive songs. Using Logic Pro, she began refining her production skills, controlling the tempo of her own destiny. 

Those early sessions birthed singles Sunset Melody (2019), Blue Jay (2019), Like U (2021), and Foolish (2022), a jazz‑neo‑soul‑Afrobeat fusion that surpassed a million streams and landed her a support slot for FLO.

In September 2023, she released her debut EP, the mercurial and diaristic Sorrow At Sunrise. 

After an interlude of setbacks marked by grief and label issues, she returned with Feline’s Return (Part 1 & Part 2). The virality and acclaim of the double project landed her praise from legacy publications like Fader and Pitchfork, recognition from Stan Twitter news source Pop Crave, adoration from the likes of  SZA, Doechii and Tyler, The Creator and performance opportunities with Mereba, PinkPantheress and Rayvn Lenae.

Now backed by Human Re Sources – the artist distribution company that fearlessly supported the musical renewal of Britain’s most dazzling success story (RAYE), her and her tight-knit team have purred their way into our hearts and are ready to dial the overdue intrigue up to a fever pitch. 

This Friday, she has embarked on the first steps of that journey, releasing the audacious and flamboyant track DON’T ASK! Balancing chaos and precision on the edge of a knife, the bombastic record is referential but creates a sonic world that is entirely Natanya.

Growing from the pain of the past, she is a woman that has learnt the art of her own shadow, found softness without losing her teeth and freedom without permission.

Like a cat, she has nine lives and in each, she reminds us that “You are allowed to come back to yourself as many times as it takes” 

Read her exclusive statement to Per Capita Media below:

“This song began as a set of chords I put together on my Yamaha E.Piano. I’d thought up a hook, and started to write out more lyrics while in the studio. Oscar Scheller (who has produced with and for industry mainstays like PinkPantheress, Rina Sawayama, Charli XCX and Lily Allen) worked with a variety of synths, midi strings and an acoustic piano. 

I really wanted to give it that marching band feel. This is an anthem about girl power, agency and refusing to wait for permission.

DON’T ASK! stands as the first single from my upcoming tape (name to be revealed later) Coming up off the internet success of my most recent EP, Feline’s Return, I’m digging deeper into musical experimentation, touching on a wider range of topics and attempting to tell the story of a girl, not-quite-famous yet, but on her way to being so.”

The Best Is Yet To Come.

DON’T ASK! is out now

Edited by Anusha Salhan