There’s a quiet power to Nectar Woode — a magnetic blend of soulfulness, sensitivity and spirited self-discovery that courses through every note she sings. Raised in the culturally layered town of Milton Keynes, and born to creatively-minded Ghanaian-British parents, Nectar’s world was always painted with the colours of possibility. At home, Nectar was immersed in a rich soundscape — from Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu to Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway — artists who taught her that soul isn’t just a genre, but an emotion you feel deeply. That same emotional truth now pulses through her own music; earlier this year, Elton John likened her to none other than Nina Simone on his Apple Music show, Rocket Hour.
Now 25-years-old, Nectar Woode has become exactly the kind of artist who honours where she comes from — both in geography and in heritage — while stepping bravely into where she’s headed. Her music, a vivid tapestry of neo-soul, folk, jazz, gospel and raw, diaristic songwriting, has found listeners across the world. Yet her voice — in both sound and spirit — is unmistakably her own.
In 2022, Nectar released her debut EP Nothing to Lose on Communion Records, an introduction to her quietly powerful sound. It was followed by Head Above Water in 2024, a bolder, more assured body of work that pushed further into jazz pastures. Selling out her London headline at Moth Club, Nectar was invited to support Leon Bridges and NAO on tour, as well as earning a BBC Radio 1 Track of the Week.
Signing to Since93/RCA, on her upcoming EP it’s like I never left, Nectar winds even deeper into her stratosphere, this era informed by an ancestral touch, found in her first trip to Ghana. Coming from a half-British, half-Ghanaian household, Nectar has always been curious about her father’s side. Heading to Accra and Aburi at the top of 2025 with her father, having never visited before, her heart and soul were nourished by an instant communal feel.
Alongside her own releases, Nectar has become a beloved voice in the UK’s independent soul and jazz community. She hosts a monthly show for Women in Jazz on Soho Radio, offering a platform for underrepresented voices.
With over 815,000 monthly Spotify listeners, major summer festivals ahead, and fans ranging from Elton John to the BBC, Nectar Woode is a singular artist in bloom. She doesn’t shout to be heard — instead, she invites you in. Her music is deeply personal yet universally resonant, reminding us that in vulnerability there is power. Honest, believable and ultimately alluring in the documentation of a twentysomethings mixed heritage woman, Nectar Woode wears her heart on her sleeve, something that’s equally as brave as it is beguiling.
