Biography

Naima Joris has had an eventful life. She’s no novice - certainly not on a human level - instead, strangely enough, she is a musician/composer. She never had the ambition to stand on a stage and only learned the basics of guitar and piano at age 27. It was enough to comfort herself at home by playing and singing cover songs that appealed to her heart. While everyone’s career was on hold, Naima broke through when she was 39. This gave her the opportunity to pay tribute together with her brother, Yassinto, to their deceased sister in the form of her first EP. After the ode came a tribute album of songs by Daniel Johnston, in whose working method and world of feelings she finds common ground. And now, her first album-length debut: “While the Moon”. ‘Hopeful again’ and ‘Suddenly’ are further post-mortem collaborations with her deceased sister, who left the lyrics behind. Naima’s songs don’t look away from painful subjects that affect us all. She chooses to sing about it instead of mourning it precisely because she loves life. For example, the album concludes with an ode to life in ‘This Life + Urlicht.’ The closing track is a fusion of two compositions. This Life is composed and played in a childlike way by Naima on the Celtic harp. Urlicht, the second part, is a composition by Niels Van Heertum in which you hear him breathe through his euphonium. Naima: “That brings us to the essence; because breath begins and ends life.”