Hiatus Kaiyote’s Nai Palm: ‘Last year I lost a breast and then my bird. But loss isn’t new to me’

The jazz-funkers beloved of Beyonce are back with a new album inspired by grief, lockdown and a big white station wagon

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For most people on the planet, 2020 was a year spent stuck indoors. During that period Naomi Saalfield, AKA Nai Palm, lead singer of the Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote, had one room in particular on her mind: a childhood bedroom that used to glow red for an hour every sunset. It has become the subject of a standout track, Red Room, on their latest, third album, Mood Valiant, and it is a song that has taken on new meaning. It's become an anthem celebrating us all being in our rooms in the context of the pandemic," Saalfield says. It's a perfect example of how music veins its way in and lives different lives with different people."

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