Chicago vocalist/emcee/producer/multi-instrumentalist NNAMDÏ has been building up his solo career for a minute now, but he has also been a part of different bands such as Monobody and Nervous Passenger. He started focusing on his solo career more in 2017, with the release of the excellent LP DROOL. He followed that up with a busy 2020, releasing two LPS, BRAT and Krazy Karl. Now he returns with a new full-length album, Please Have a Seat.

Fans who have been following NNAMDÏ’s career for a while won’t be shocked to hear what he’s doing on Please Have a Seat, as it feels like he’s picking up right where he left off with BRAT. He’s still creating this unique hybrid sound that pulls on everything from post-rock to synth pop to free jazz to hip hop and neo-soul, sometimes mixing them all together, sometimes bouncing wildly from one style to the next. Where NNAMDÏ is subtly evolving on this album is that way that he’s still honoring this artistic voice that he’s been honing over the last five-plus years, but now he’s finding these moments to focus his songwriting and delivering more anthemic moments and sing-along choruses. Now, this is still NNAMDÏ, so these moments manifest themselves in very different ways, such as the pop/hip hop track “I Don’t Wanna Be Famous,” which will have kids putting their arms up and rapping along to the hook as NNAMDÏ goes in on his discomfortable push and pull relationship with success and what that entails. A few tracks later, we get to “Smart Ass,” a guitar-driven indie rock anthem that feels made for a rom-com soundtrack, with it’s Phoenix-meets-Carly-Simon sound and it’s big, sing-along, kiss-off chorus. This mix of styles is all very interesting, but ultimately what makes this project successful, much like his previous efforts, is the way that NNAMDÏ opens up about himself and makes each song feel very personal and heartfelt. This could be him being open about his anxieties, or navigating the music industry, or just the personal relationships in his life. As a result, you get an album that is extremely exciting on a musical level, but deeply relatable on a personal level, which is about as win-win as you can get.

Please Have a Seat is a great album delivered with great balance from NNAMDÏ. It delivers on what fans are already expecting from him, while also showing growth and further musical experimentation. It’s a careful tightrope to walk, but NNAMDÏ does an expert job, all while putting his entire self into the project.