Naomi Sharon – No Sleep In Paradise

Sometimes, even the cover can be misleading.

The album was released on 26 June 2026.

When I first saw No Sleep In Paradise, I initially thought of a modern, perhaps slightly superficial R&B or pop album. Glamorous staging, perfect lighting: exactly the kind of look you often see today.

That made the surprise all the greater when I heard the record.

Because behind this cover is an incredibly warm, intelligent and finely produced album, rather than loud mainstream pop.

Nothing feels contrived. Nothing fights for attention.

Instead, Naomi Sharon creates an atmosphere that stays with you from the first song to the last.

Her voice is extraordinary. Dark, warm and compelling. She does not sing against the music; she becomes part of the arrangement herself. Everything feels organic, almost floating.

Lightness and seriousness

For me, Better Days captures the strength of the album particularly well. Musically light and full of warmth, yet with thoughtful lyrics. It is about hope, about better days coming again even after the darkest ones.

That mixture of lightness and seriousness runs through the entire album.

Naomi Sharon was born in the Netherlands and is the first female artist signed to Drake’s label, OVO Sound. After hearing this album, their decision does not surprise me at all.

For me, No Sleep In Paradise is a record to take in as a whole, rather than picking out two or three songs.

It is an album you let play.

Even paradise has sleepless nights

On a warm summer evening. With the windows open. With no hurry. At some point, you realise you are no longer just listening. You simply give yourself over to the mood of this extraordinary record.

Perhaps the album title ultimately explains why the cover and the music fit together so well after all.

Naomi Sharon has explained the title through intense weeks in the studio and very little sleep. From the outside, an artist’s life looks like paradise, but there is work and pressure behind it too. For me, the title can be read more broadly: even when everything seems perfect, that does not automatically mean inner calm.

Outward happiness does not automatically bring inner peace.

Suddenly, the cover takes on a different meaning for me too.

It shows beauty, perfection and glamour. Yet the music behind it tells of vulnerability, hope, self-doubt and the search for inner calm.

Even paradise has sleepless nights.

What stays with me

When cover and music come together

And that is precisely why, in the end, this cover may fit the music much better than I initially thought.

Sources for the article

Sony Music: album announcement

Way Up: conversation with Naomi Sharon