CMU Approved

Approved: Nana Adjoa

By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 24 September 2020

Following a string of single releases that began last year, Dutch musician Nana Adjoa today releases her debut album, ‘Big Dreaming Ants’.

“Big dreaming, little ants, it’s just who we are”, she says of the overarching theme of the album. “Zooming in on myself and my personal search for identity and then zooming out to see yourself as a very small piece in a bigger part, that as a whole is also on that same search. Themes like heritage, nationalism, internal conflict, change, originality and insecurity come along in that search”.

The album opens with latest single ‘National Song’, which reflects on ideas of nationality. “Every country has a national song”, she says. “In the Netherlands, ours is translated from old Dutch. Everybody sings along but they don’t know what it means. It made me question the tradition, and why we feel the need to belong to a nation when borders aren’t as clear as they used to be”.

Having used the songs on the album to challenge various beliefs and ideas, closing track ‘I Want To Change’ brings it all to a satisfying, yet open-ended conclusion, which she says “summarises all of the thoughts that I was having when I was recording these songs”.

“I’m having these dreams about what my life could be”, she goes on. “But I’m also seeing myself as a small part in this chain of people – all these small pieces working on something, and they don’t really understand how it’s connected or if it’s even connected. To me, it was like ants – all working together for a bigger goal”.

‘Big Dreaming Ants’ is out now. Watch the video for ‘National Song’ here:

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