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Naomi Cowan has delivered a very accomplished body of work with her album ‘Welcome to Paradise‘, which was officially released on Friday (October 10).

This new album contains well-crafted songs and exhibits Naomi’s songwriting skills.

Her diction, phrasing, and tonality are all excellent, and she imbues these songs with sincerity.

She took her time and considered this piece of work, eschewing what is vogue and popular, opting to stamp her own imprimatur.

Naomi Cowan loves reggae music, and it shows here, but she is willing to take the genre and add elements to it and extend its bounds.

Check out the infectious ‘Cherry on Top‘, a pen to women loving and rating themselves. The closing track on the album ‘Imagine‘ is one of the finest ballads you will hear on any reggae album over the last few years.

Naomi has been on the scene for a while now, but as the years go by, she has become better at her craft, and that is clear to see on ‘Welcome to Paradise‘. She doesn’t go down the all too familiar path of romantic yearning, but looks at the experience through the eyes of a woman who is willing to be brave, exploratory, yet is clear about her expectations. Case in point, the track, ‘True Lies‘. The girl has a sense of humour!

On Wednesday, she delivered a live set at Tuff Gong Studio, before a gathering of friends, family and industry insiders.

It has to be said that Naomi is a superb live performer, and she needs to do more shows.  The vibe was rustic, especially since it was here that Bob Marley made some of his finest work. He would have nodded in approval of Naomi’s performance.

She was beautiful, confident, charming, gracious, intelligent and went through the playlist with consummate ease and aplomb. The crowd was feeling her.

Naomi gives a big nod to why women must be respected in the song ‘Woman Respect’. This song does not bemoan men disrespecting women and what they have to endure from abusive, vicious and terrible men – rather it also draws attention to women respecting and validating other women. It’s a thought-provoking tune. 

“I think women are such a magnificent representation of God’s creativity, in terms of how our minds work, our bodies work. Yes, we have had a feminist movement which has empowered us to be very strong, but I do feel at times we as women don’t give each other enough respect. We demand it from the world, but do we give it to each other? Society raises women to compete against each other. I think it is very important that we as women in music continue to push our message forward,” said the songstress.

This young lady has many strings to her bow. I recall her as a journalist with enormous potential-one to watch. She became a reggae singer and is a good one. She can also act and appeared in the Bob Marley biopic ‘One Love’. She is a talented songwriter, and it would not be surprising if she transitions into also being a producer.

Her set was interspersed with an interview with the singer Joby Jay, posing the questions. Joby Jay did a fantastic job.

“So let me get in your business. You talk about the complexity of romance, but what I want to know is what does it take for a queen like you to open up and give yourself to a king?”

Naomi considered, smiled before replying to Joby Jay, “I think somebody who loves themselves is very important. On my journey, I have found that people who are comfortable in their own skin that’d the most attractive thing to me. I like someone who is not afraid to laugh. A lot of times, people wear armour and masks because the world tells us what to do, but the sexist thing for a man to be is himself. When you love yourself, everything flows from there. When you love yourself, you can pursue your passion…. and be hygienic.”

Naomi hails from a very talented family; her father, Tommy Cowan a notable singer and producer who worked with Bob Marley. Her mother, Carlene Davis, a gifted gospel singer. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. 

The family were at the Tuff Gong Studio to support Naomi, including her nephew, sisters, et al. It must have been an extremely proud moment for the family, and it sends the message that having that kind of support goes a long way. To have family bear witness to your accomplishments is a true treasure. Naomi made the point that she was raised in a house where there was unconditional love.

So what is her songwriting process?

More often than not, it comes from something very random. For ‘Cherry On Top‘, I heard the riddim and I felt like I was in Negril on the beach at the Poinciana Hotel. That’s where we went when I was a child. I saw a cherry on a frozen drink, and it just went from there.

“Sometimes I will be playing someone else’s song, a classic, old school, whatever and then words and emotions start to flow and then I go off into another song .’Cherry On Top‘ is about going through rejection, someone doesn’t like you back. Throughout my career, I have had to face rejection, going to auditions. With that in mind, I decided to write a song to remind ourselves, wherever you go, whatever you might do, just be you, there’s only one you. If you take that approach, whatever room you walk into, your life can change.”

“My process is a very intuitive one, one that I can’t really explain myself. There is an element of spiritual messages coming to me. I wrote ‘Paradise Plum‘ and ‘True Lies‘ with Sarah Couch, and that was a great creative experience at her house.

‘Welcome to Paradise’ was executive-produced by Toddla T from the UK.  The band comprises background vocalists Ladonnice Lewis and Latoya Newell-Irving. On bass is Joshua Jones with Djenne Greaves on keyboard. Mark-Anthony Reid is on drums and Nicolas Grosopf plays guitar.

Watching Naomi up there on stage playing her acoustic guitar brought back memories of a young Joni Mitchell and Sade performing at Ronnie Scott’s when her first album came out.

Naomi is part of a generation of very talented female artists, including Sevana, Lila Ike, Khalia. The world needs to be familiar with their work, and they deserve to go and have rewarding careers.

Here’s hoping ‘Welcome To Paradise‘ goes on to be a success and that Naomi Cowan’s star rises to new heights.