London-based Egyptian artist, Novo, has had a year that can only be described as successful. Success is, of course, hard to measure for independent artists in this part of the world, unless you star in a telecoms commercial - that’s when you know you’ve really made it.
For Novo, the numbers speak for themselves. He’s racked up hundreds of thousands of online streams this year, and surpassed 1 million streams in June. As far as we know, at the time of publishing, no one has calculated the total up to September, but we’re sure there’s a few more to count up. That’s not the only milestone set for this year, with November 5th marking the debut album for the singer and producer. It’s not clear whether Love & Madness is an EP or LP, but either way, Novo fans - and R&B fans in general - should be in for a treat.His latest single, ‘After Hours’, offers a peek into the project, and comes as a slice of 90s and (very) early 2000s R&B. Featuring vocalist, Natalie Ayyad, the track is produced by young Cairo-based production duo, Issa&Assouad, but the track shows a suaveness and smoothness beyond their years - because they’re far too young to remember 90s and (very) early 2000s R&B. Whatever the case, it’s a melancholic tale of love, heartbreak, deceit and painful matters of the heart, and has that two-sides-of-a-coin duets that happened so frequently at the time.
How much it speaks of the direction of Love & Madness is yet to be seen, but it’s unlikely that it will follow suit, given the scope of R&B Novo has operated in previously. Either way, it promises to be an interesting first big splash for Novo, one that has only been made more intriguing by this latest release.
