Allow Naomi Scott to Reintroduce Herself
After starting her career with playing characters on the big screen, the artist is now writing her own narrative.
Naomi Scott has spent years bringing other people’s stories to life. Now, with her debut album F.I.G, she’s finally telling her own. A project nearly a decade in the making, it’s the first time Scott has had the space to be entirely, unapologetically herself.
From a teenager cast in Disney’s Lemonade Mouth to a global face after the live-action Aladdin and, most recently, unsettling audiences in horror sequel Smile 2, she’s moved fluidly between worlds, always compelling but rarely the one in control of the narrative. Now the artist is stepping into her own, stripping everything back to offer an intimate and unfiltered look at who she is beyond the screen.
While Scott’s roles have evolved, music has always been the constant running underneath, a quieter, more personal current she’s been building toward all along, and F.I.G is the result. Executive-produced by Lido, the project is a genre-fluid odyssey that moves between gospel warmth, ’80s pop nostalgia, alt-pop edge and soulful ’90s R&B. It’s vulnerable and playful, expansive and deeply intimate. Made in a creative bubble that Scott describes as instinct-driven and free, it doesn’t sound like a debut so much as an arrival.
This project captures the many versions of herself she’s still discovering and creates a sonic world shaped by newfound freedom. With her first North American tour on the horizon, we sat down with Scott to talk self-expression, musical identity and what it means to finally be seen as herself. Read on for the full interview.
You just released your debut album, ‘F.I.G‘ Can you tell us a bit about the project and the process?
I explain the album as a fun exploration of different versions of myself. It’s nostalgic but fresh, fun but vulnerable and emotive. After the pandemic, I went back to basics, just me at a piano, with a childlike sense of play, not judging anything that came out. I began to create this little world of demos that felt like a “sound” and a cohesive theme. I then needed to find the right person to help me create the soundscape I had in my head, and, as per usual when you work with incredibly talented people, Lido helped me craft a soundscape that was even better than I had imagined. He is the executive producer of this album. I was able to record some of it in Norway, which is where he’s from. It was such a beautiful process; we were just in our own little world, so we weren’t influenced by any outside opinions.
For those who are most familiar with your acting work, how has this project allowed you to reintroduce yourself?
I feel like this is introducing myself for the first time, to be honest. A lot of people know me as characters that are usually worlds away from who I actually am, so this is a way for me to actually present myself, my taste and who I am as an artist. It’s my vision, not somebody else’s.
Your lyrics are very vulnerable. Does the album have a message you want listeners to take away?
I just want people to feel something, for it to bring up things that are personal to them, and for it to make them want to move their bodies in response. I love when people bring themselves to the music; to me, that’s what great art does. I even love it when people take a completely different meaning from a song than what was intended when writing it. I actually even love it when people get lyrics wrong… but maybe that’s because I always get lyrics wrong.
Can you talk us through the album’s title?
F.I.G is an acronym for “Fall Into Grace.” Grace is my middle name, and the album is about exploring different versions of myself. The other meaning is derived from a quote from the novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. It’s about a dream the character has where she is sitting at the foot of a fig tree, and each fig represents a different path she could have taken. She watches as they fall to the ground and rot while she starves to death, too afraid to make the wrong choice. I found that very powerful.
The record pulls from everything from ’80s pop to church music. Can you tell us a bit about your influences?
My influences are a mix of what I listened to as a kid and as an early teenager. Whether it was mimicking the vocal riffs of pop gospel artists like Mary Mary and Stacie Orrico, or being a teenager and discovering the sonics of Blood Orange, Jessie Ware and FKA Twigs, and starting to hear these clashes of influences in production that created something that felt unique to each artist.
You’re about to head off on your first North American tour. How does that feel?
I feel incredibly blessed to be able to tour. I think nothing can match experience when it comes to live performance. I want to learn, I want to grow, I want to hone my craft and I also want to be in a room with people who love the album and hear them sing it. I think that’s going to be a beautiful moment when I hear people singing the lyrics.
Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with?
I always think about who I’d want to write with. I’ve been writing with Fabiana Palladino, whose music I absolutely love. She’s an incredible musician and a generous collaborator, and I can’t wait to get back into the studio with her.
What can we expect from you in the future?
More music! More live shows! More music videos!
