Halifax-born pop artist re-emerges with new single, music video

Naomi Shobha has spent years of her life working on songs with some of the world’s biggest artists. Now, after a long break, she’s back to making her own music.

Shobha, who some may recognize from her debut 2008 album Work In Progress, is an award-winning, Juno- and ECMA-nominated songwriter who went from singing her own songs on stage to toplining—writing melodies and lyrics for instrumental tracks that can be recorded by other artists.

After writing in the music industry for over a decade, including work with artists such as Alan Doyle and Rush’s Alex Lifeson, as well as recording several songs for Degrassi: Next Class, Shobha has begun working on a new EP—her first album release since her debut.

“It’s really just writing a lot about life and kind of where I’m at,” says Shobha, who once performed under her last name. “I mean, I’m a more mature artist… I’m in my 40s now. So I definitely have just a lot of clarity and a different kind of confidence.”

Why now? Shobha says making her own music has always been her dream, and after a sudden loss, she felt inspired to follow it once more.

“I actually lost my mom in September, and it was, as you can imagine, a really difficult time for me,” says Shobha. “But it was really kind of a turning point for me. It made me realize just how short life is, and if there’s something that you love, you have to make time for it.”

Her latest single, “Part of the Process,” displays her newfound sense of clarity, navigating the topic of depression through an honest reflection of who she is. The song came to her after getting laid off from a tech job.

“It was just like I was in a zombie state,” she says in an interview with The Coast. “I remember, just kind of like, I had so much time on my hands all of a sudden. And it’s just really what kicked off songwriting again for me because I had all this time and suddenly, I wasn’t working. I really fell back in love with it.”

The song itself is an anthem to grief, as Shobha describes letting herself feel everything at once. She describes going on a bender, ordering more fast food, and other actions that she knows she probably shouldn’t do, but letting herself do it because it’s what she feels like she needs. To Shobha, it’s all part of the process.

Halifax to Toronto

Shobha was born and raised in Halifax, having heard a variety of music that would go on to influence her songwriting. East Coast classics like the Barra MacNeils, Great Big Sea and the Rankin Family.

“And then there was like, the scene, when I grew up and started playing places, and it was silky singer-songwriter types, which I tend to lean towards,” she says, adding that her music is often more soulful thanks to popular influences such as Mary J. Blige.

And while all kinds of music can be played by Nova Scotians, there’s no taking the Nova Scotian out of the music.

“I hear people say things like, ‘Oh, there’s a little bit of twang in your music.’ It’s not quite country, it’s not quite folk, and there’s some soul, and it’s just what it is. You bring yourself wherever you go.”

Shobha brought herself to Toronto when she was 26. She had won the 2007 Canadian Radio Star songwriting contest that was done in partnership with Canadian Music Week and Corus Entertainment. Instead of heading back to Halifax, Shobha decided to stay in Toronto with whatever was in her suitcase.

“Winning the grand prize of that just opened up a lot of doors for me,” she says. “You got radio play. You got interviews. You just got a bunch of stuff that was sort of in a box… It was like this nice little present that kind of propelled you into all the places that would otherwise maybe be harder to get into. It really opened up a lot of doors.”

Not long after, she learned she was going to have her first son, Jacob.

“All of a sudden, I couldn’t do as much, but I could still do toplining,” she says, adding her networking through the radio contest and first album led her into that career. “That’s what made me appreciate that side of it. It’s like, oh, I can make music in my pajamas at home, and, like, not have to go anywhere. And then the song gets legs and someone else performs at places. That was just mind-boggling to me.”

The first song she toplined was recorded by Japanese singer Crystal Kay, and while it gave her a skewed expectation of her toplining at first—it’s extraordinarily difficult to have your lyrics and melodies sung by popular artists—it certainly showed that Shobha had promise in the field. After years of toplining, she accepted a deal with Sony Music Publishing and has continued to write songs for others.

From songwriter to singer

Although Shobha is still busy working with Sony, she can thankfully find time at home to continue with her EP—made all the easier with her partner, multi-platinum producer Rob Wells, by her side.

“We can kind of work at a pace between kids and activities and working from home,” she says. “We just work on this from our home.”

Shobha says she felt like she stopped being an artist after accepting the publishing deal, but through the creation of this EP, she has managed to reclaim some of her artistic identity. She’s been able to write songs that reflect her stories and emotions.

She’s finding inspiration everywhere, saying that one song in the works was inspired in part by her dog. As she spent $250 at the pet store for her furry friend, she looked back on her previous dog she had two years ago, and how that dog would not have been able to have the same comforts she’s able to provide now.

“He didn’t get the same luxuries in life,” says Shobha. “It’s the same with people, right? Sometimes, people get this version of us. Maybe it’s in a relationship.”

It may prove difficult to find some of Shobha’s earlier music today. Much of it was taken down by her, as she says it no longer reflected who she was—it never felt like it was truly her. Even when she finished her debut album, she says she never really felt proud of it. Her songs may have gotten radio play, and they may have led to her toplining career, but she could no longer identify with them.

However, the music Shobha is making now—under her full name, and with full creative control—feels like something she can take pride in.

“You just know what you love and what you want to be represented by,” she says.