Naomi Wachira – Naomi Wachira (2014)

As a self-confident Kenyan-American woman, Naomi Wachira knows herself, what she wants, and what she hopes to see from others — all recurring themes in this full-length follow-up to her 2012 EP African Girl. Wachira sings with so much conviction there’s no doubt she means every word, and her Sade-like voice (self-accompanied on acoustic guitar) is warm and inviting as she gracefully reveals a vast vocal range.
The album also features Evan Flory-Barnes (Threat of Beauty, Industrial Revelation) on bass, cellist Natalie Hall (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis), Darren Reynolds (Patrick & The Locomotive) on drums, and Latin percussionist Lalo Bello (Jacob Bain & Publish the Quest). Thanks to producer Damien Jurado’s light hand in the studio, Naomi Wachira has a delicate feel, with neither vocals nor instrumentation outshining the other. As a whole, this isn’t a story of a woman trying to find herself, but of a woman who has already worked through those challenges and is now stronger because of them. Wachira supports this idea right to the last track, leaving the listener with “I Know,” a final example of her independent spirit: “I’ll keep on fighting for me/’Cause I know what I’m meant to be.”