Another great artist discovery via The Wild is Calling, naya mö‘s “wanderlust” is a song that I heard in passing on a playlist, and could not stop thinking about afterward. It’s been on constantly for the past few weeks. The gentle vocal and memorable chorus creaes a near-perfect earworm. I can’t get enough. Her Soundcloud page has a couple of alternate versions that are worth a listen, particularly this haunting, sparse piano version:
Then last week she released “outsider”, which is another bit of indie-rock brilliance:
She’s got an incredible knack for simple melodies that resonate, and in some cases, crafting songs that feel familiar on first listen. When I first heard “before the darkness comes again”, I was certain I knew it already, but I think it’s just one of those songs. It’s easy to imagine this one live, with a crowd singing along:
naya mö (nee Naya Fellonneau) is from Bordeaux, France. She’s been releasing singles at a pretty steady clip in 2024, leading up to the release of her debut EP dealing with ghosts in Feburary 2025.
Her songs tend toward a wistful sound, built around very restrained guitar-and-voice songs that slowly build to cathartic moments drenched in reverb and delay and layered vocals. There’s a depth to her lyrics and arrangements that elevate the songs above coffee-shop background music, and her distinct voice is capable of stunning brilliance, as on her debut single “haunting me” from last June:
She’s hardly new to releasing music though: as NAYA, she has been releasing pop music since 2016, often in her native French. She even opened for The 1975.
