Tying electronic pop with older traditions, Ngaiire’s new release is bright, alive and soulful, reaching back to her roots as it looks to the future
Throughout her career, Ngaiire Joseph has fought off being misunderstood. Born and mostly raised in Papua New Guinea, and based in Sydney, the singer and songwriter got her start in 2004 on Australian Idol, tearing through pitch-perfect renditions of modern R&B classics like India Arie’s Back to the Middle and Mary J Blige’s No More Drama as the judging panel mispronounced her name and chastised her shyness.
The industry proved unfriendly, as it often does for young women of colour, and Ngaiire attempted to make herself palatable. At one point, she decided not to identify professionally as Papua New Guinean, in case it was hampering her career. “Denying my own blood, and my own heritage and where I’m from, was one of the things that I felt like I needed to do earlier on,” she said recently. “To just protect myself from being in situations where people misinterpreted my music or misinterpreted who I was.”
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