British-Ghanaian singer/songwriter Nectar Woode comes home to herself on ‘it’s like I never left,’ a dreamy, genre-blurring EP reckoning with identity, mixed heritage, and belonging. From face-melting soul to seductive alt-R&B, these six soul-stirring tracks trace a powerful journey toward knowing – and finally accepting – both yourself and your place in the world.
Stream: “Only Happen” – Nectar Woode
“It’s like I never left.”
A gentle, soul-stirring refrain at the heart of “Home Again,” these five words echo far beyond a single song. They speak to heritage and healing, to identity reclaimed and roots rediscovered. For British-Ghanaian singer/songwriter Nectar Woode, they mark a homecoming to self – a realization that even in the midst of uncertainty, she was never truly lost.
Released July 18th via Since 93, Woode’s third EP it’s like I never left is a dreamy, seductive, and soul-soaked reverie – a record of catharsis and connection, of seeking, unlearning, and coming home. Rich in emotional nuance and sonic warmth, its six songs simmer with the power of self-affirmation. Her music moves effortlessly between vulnerability and boldness, grounding itself in questions of belonging and identity while celebrating love, family, and growth. From moments of sun-soaked joy to darker, introspective depths, Woode crafts an immersive listening experience full of tenderness and triumph.
The result is a collection that stirs the soul and lights the path forward – a bold, beautiful reminder that healing doesn’t mean forgetting. It means remembering who you’ve been all along. it’s like I never left is Nectar Woode’s most personal and poignant work to date – a radiant testament to self-acceptance, community, and the power of coming home.
Raised in a working-class neighborhood in Milton Keynes, England, Nectar Woode grew up immersed in creative energy – her Ghanaian father, a saxophone-playing jazz lover; her English mother, an artist and fashion pattern cutter. From early jam sessions to London’s underground soul and jazz scenes, Woode has always carried music as a vessel for self-expression. But while her past projects introduced us to her artistry, it’s like I never left marks a deeper unraveling – a turning inward, and outward, at once.
Woode’s new EP arrives just eight months after Head Above Water, her critically acclaimed second project. That record, featuring standouts like “How It’s Gotta Be,” “30 Degrees,” and “Head Above Water” (the latter of which was BBC Radio 1’s Track Of The Week), was a breakthrough moment – a polished, emotionally rich offering that showcased Woode’s vocal control, melodic instinct, and sharp lyrical insight. But while Head Above Water introduced the world to a rising soul talent, it’s like I never left reveals the woman behind the voice. “I felt like my previous projects were introductions to who I am as an artist,” Woode says. “Now I’m getting deeper into my genetic makeup and the sounds that inspired my journey to Ghana.”
Woode’s heritage has always been central to her music, but never more so than it is today.
The singer/songwriter took her first trip to Ghana at the top of 2025, and in doing so, unlocked a part of herself she had long been searching for. She describes the experience as wholly transformative – for her sense of self, for her understanding of the world, and for her approach to her art.
“I had never been to Ghana before, which made up 50% of me,” she reflects. “I desperately wanted to go and discover that part of myself.” That journey – both literal and emotional – gave birth to this EP: A full-circle moment that bridges the divide between upbringing and origin, Milton Keynes and Accra, self and story.
“My vision was always showcasing the journey of being from mixed heritage and what that means being brought up in UK but also being Ghanian,” Woode explains.
“This EP was birthed from my writing [the song] ‘Only Happen’ and discussing me being from mixed heritage and being brought up in the UK but not feeling truly belong anywhere. The project takes us through that journey and exploring different songwriting techniques, with ‘LOSE’ and ‘Light as a feather’ being made in Ghana, and then writing all the other songs around this trip. In Ghana, I was welcomed with open arms and felt like I had been validated the whole time growing up in the UK with such rich Ghanaian culture around, so when I came back, I was grateful to have had my community in Milton Keynes, but also meet my community in Ghana, too. [It was] a journey with a full circle moment.”
Woode candidly describes it’s like I never left with three words: “Honest, Identity, and Warm.” These sentiments run like a current through all six songs, each one tethered to lived experience, collective memory, and emotional growth. “I think I touch on topics [here] that I haven’t talked about before – deeper topics based on my identity and how I fit into society in 2025. I wanted people to resonate with this more personal topic.”
The EP’s title comes from a core line in the sweetly tender closing track, “Home Again”: “I’m home again, it’s like I never left. Still make the coffee the same, I’m home again,” Woode sings, her gentle voice hot on the mic. It’s one of the many ways she drives home this sense of long-sought inner and outer peace; of a tranquility and belonging she never had until now.
“I wrote this song after coming back from Ghana where I felt complete in myself,” she says. “That journey answered so many questions on my identity and where I belonged. Though ‘Home Again’ is definitely a love song about someone very special, I came to the conclusion that I went through this journey for a reason, and I didn’t need to question myself because I’ve always been accepted within my community in London, Milton Keynes, and Ghana! It’s the feeling of finally being at peace with your identity.”
Darling you look so lost
Just let your shoulders drop
Tell me what’s on your mind
Don’t let them get you down
The world will keep turning round
We all live and die
We all live and die
Wear whatever you like
(Ama said) Drive wherever you want
(Ama said) Love whoever you love
(Ama said) With open arms
Do whatever you feel
Live a little too much
Love whoever you love
Don’t fight so hard
– “Ama said,” Nectar Woode
it’s like I never left is truly a glistening, genre-blurring body of work: Across six stirring songs, Nectar Woode comes to life in a bold melting pot of face-melting soul, dreamy R&B, jazz-laced textures, and more –
– all of which come together to tell a cohesive, cathartic journey of identity and heritage, honesty and vulnerability, self-love and self-acceptance.
The EP begins with “Only Happen,” the spark that ignited the entire record. Written alongside Jordan Rakei, the spellbinding song sets the scene for the whole EP with a slow-burning meditation on anxiety, identity, and inner rhythm. “We wrote this based off our experiences being from mixed heritage and not feeling like you fit in to either side,” Woode shares. “We wanted to capture that uncomfortable feeling in the songwriting and production… with the intense harmonies right at the start and the driving beat.”
In previously featuring “Only Happen” on Atwood Magazine’s 125th Editor’s Picks, I praised it as “a masterclass in restraint and release – the kind of song that holds you close, even as it threatens to shatter.” From its intense opening harmonies to the steady, propulsive beat, the track captures discomfort and release in equal measure – a smoldering soul anthem that builds toward hope: “Feeling the rhythm, heading for the light.” It’s both a thesis and a promise.
The energy lifts on “LOSE,” a fast-paced jam born out of a spontaneous writing session in Ghana with Obed and Joey Turks of SuperJazzClub. “We were inspired by our high-life influences like Pat Thomas,” Woode says, and you can hear it in the track’s buoyant grooves, jazz-laced chords, and communal spirit. “We didn’t overthink the songwriting at all,” she adds – and that ease radiates in every beat. It’s a reminder to let go, trust the moment, and move with freedom.
Watch your back
Take a step off the track
Why you so shy
When nobody cares
Life ain’t fair
But you already there
scared all the time
When they already lying
Take it from me
Hide and deep it
Overthinking
Your always free, yeah
Going nowhere
Move in circles
It will drive you crazy
Don’t worry bout the groove
Don’t worry
Just worry if you lose
Don’t worry bout the groove
Don’t worry
Just worry if you lose
Don’t worry bout the groove
Don’t worry
Just worry if you lose
Don’t worry bout the groove
Don’t worry
Just worry if you lose
“Ama said” pulls the listener closer, offering warmth, wisdom, and soul-deep encouragement. Written just before her trip to Ghana, the track draws on a conversation with her younger sister, Ama, who reminded her to speak her truth. “I loved writing this song from the narrative of female community and advice giving,” Woode explains. Over jazzy textures and gentle boom bap rhythms – complete with saxophone from her father – she distills the power of intergenerational care: “Love whoever you love… Don’t fight so hard.”
Next comes “Light as a feather,” a hypnotic, heady love song written in Ghana with Joey and Obed. It’s drenched in desire – a dark, flowing reverie where obsession meets surrender. “I really enjoyed using the same techniques of jamming and collaborating,” Woode says. Highlife rhythms swirl beneath aching vocals as she confesses, “If anything it’s all about you.” It’s that rare kind of intimacy that feels both weightless and inescapable.
Written alone in her bedroom, “When The Rain Stops” is a moment of pure emotional release. “This was a therapeutic experience,” Woode shares. “I didn’t overthink – I just wrote down exactly how I felt about missing your love and also yearning for the rain to stop.” The song shimmers with that exact feeling – of grey skies clearing, of pain processed but not erased. “It’s bittersweet, but I’m proud of me,” she sings, capturing both the ache and the affirmation in moving on.
If you only knew
If you only knew
What it was like
When the pain got out
That precious feeling
When the rain stops
Girl it’s hard to see
Had to get back on my own two feet
The journey was long
But I made it out
The clouds will always carry me
When the rain stops
A Bittersweet high (Bittersweet)
A Bittersweet high (So bittersweet)
A bittersweet (Oh), a bittersweet
A bittersweet high (Oh)
Gotta feel through the pain (pain)
Accepting all that’s changed (changed)
It’s bittersweet, but I’m proud of me
I’ve moved that rain (bittersweet)
The EP closes with the aforementioned “Home Again,” a tender, soulful love song that doubles as an anthem of self-acceptance. Written after returning from Ghana and realizing she had finally come home to herself, the track acts as musical closure and thematic catharsis. “All my anxieties on my identity had cleared,” she reflects. “I felt home again within my community and myself, so I felt it was the perfect finisher for the EP.” With its glowing melodies and full-hearted resolve, “Home Again” is both an ending and a new beginning – as well as a personal favorite. “The chord that goes with the line ‘it’s like I never left’ makes you feel like I’ve finally got to my resolution and I’m home regardless, if I’m in Milton Keynes, London, or Ghana,” she says with a smile.
“My highlight, other than being able to go to Ghana to write some of this project, was definitely working with Jordan Rakei. I’m such a huge OG fan of his, so to songwrite, but also find a common ground from our experiences being from mixed heritage, was lovely, too.”
Feels like I’m home again
Lying in your arms
The first time I felt
The sun after the winter
Oh the winter
Like I’m home again
It’s like I never left
Still make the coffee the same
I’m home again
Arriving on the heels of two highly regarded EPs that continue to hold up, and years’ worth of hard work and soul-searching, it’s like I never left is both a creative evolution and an artistic rebirth for Nectar Woode. Her songs are united not just by their sonic warmth and genre-blurring glow, but by all the intensely intimate emotional threads running through them. Whether through buoyant grooves or hushed confessions, she invites us into her innermost world – a sanctum where personal truth meets musical freedom, and where every track adds a new layer to her unfolding story.
Where Head Above Water offered a glimpse into her artistry, it’s like I never left dives into the marrow of who Nectar Woode is – as an artist, a daughter, a seeker, and a soul still blooming. “I hope people can be effected with any topics that I touch on in this EP,” she shares. “Especially growing up in the UK – it’s all about finding your community that nourishes you and gives you freedom to feel and share love in any capacity. I want people to feel warm inside when listening.”
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Nectar Woode’s it’s like I never left with Atwood Magazine as she takes us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of her third EP!
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:: stream/purchase it’s like I never left here ::
Stream: ‘it’s like I never left’ – Nectar Woode
:: Inside it’s like I never left ::
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ONLY HAPPEN
We start the EP off with this song that I wrote with Jordan Rakei. We wrote this based off our experiences being from mixed heritage and not feeling like you fit in to either side. We wanted to capture that uncomfortable feeling in the songwriting and prod of this song with the intense harmonies right at the start and the driving beat. It starts off the whole journey of the EP.
LOSE
Now we fast forward a little bit and increase the tempo with LOSE. I wrote this with Obed and Joey Turks from Superjazz Club, and it originated from us just jamming with each other and not overthinking the songwriting anything. We worked on this song in Ghana and we were inspired by our high-life influencers like Pat Thomas to carry us through the fast tempo beat and added harmonies and jazz chords along the way.
AMA SAID
Let’s fast-forward a week before setting off on my journey to Ghana – I was second-guessing myself and scared about how I would be welcomed going to Ghana and I remembered a good conversation I had with my sister (Ama) who always encouraged me to speak my mind and not keep anything in. I find that my younger sister gives the best advice, and I loved writing this song from the narrative of female community and advise giving. Listen to your siblings, they are very wise!
LIGHT AS A FEATHER
Another track that me, Joey & Obed wrote whilst in Ghana. This one is a love song for sure about not being able to get that special person out of your head no matter how hard you try, they’ll always have a hold on you. I really enjoyed using the same techniques of jamming and collaborating on this one. It’s like a dark long song still hinting at those highlife rhythms too.
WHEN THE RAIN STOPS
I wrote this in my bedroom after a session that made me feel super frustrated because the ideas weren’t flowing as best as I’d hoped. This was a therapeutic experience where I didn’t overthinking and wrote down exactly how I felt about missing your love and also yearning for the rain to stop and having hope in the air once it does. I love the smell that the earth gives off as soon as the rain stops and the dark clouds disappear – there’s something about that feeling I wanted to capture.
HOME AGAIN
This was the final song I wrote for the project, it’s where to will find the title of the EP in the second chorus – It’s essentially a love song about re-connecting with a special person and instantly feeling at home. I wrote this after coming back from Ghana and all my anxieties on my identity having cleared – I felt home again within my community and myself so I felt it was the perfect finisher for the EP. It’s like I never left.
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