Denai Moore
{{short description|British-Jamaican artist and singer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Use Jamaican English|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Denai Moore
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| birth_place = Spanish Town, Jamaica
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| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter}}
| years_active = 2013–present
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| genre = {{hlist|Soul|folk|R&B}}
| instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar}}
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| associated_acts = {{hlist|SBTRKT, Flume, Mura Masa}}
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Denai Moore is a British-Jamaican artist and singer. Her most recent album Modern Dread was released in July 2020.{{Cite news|last=Sotire|first=Timi|date=2020-07-03|title=Denai Moore: Modern Dread review – hypnotic, surrealist bid for freedom|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/03/denai-moore-modern-dread-review-because-music|access-date=2020-07-07|issn=0261-3077}} Moore's musical style is a mix of soul, folk, electronic, and other styles, and she has said she takes influence from Lauryn Hill and Bon Iver.{{Cite news|title=Denai Moore - New Faces|language=en|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/10073678/Denai-Moore-New-Faces.html|access-date=2017-05-23}} She refers to her own music as "genre free".{{Cite news|date=2017-05-03|title=Denai Moore on 'Trickle' visual: 'it represents the unexpected nature of anxiety'|language=en-GB|work=gal-dem|url=http://www.gal-dem.com/denai-moore-trickle-visual-represents-unexpected-nature-of-anxiety/|access-date=2017-05-23}} She has been described as "one to watch out for" by The Fader.{{Cite web|title=Hear "I Swore," A Tearful Ballad From SBTRKT Collaborator Denai Moore|url=http://www.thefader.com/2014/10/04/stream-sbtrkt-collaborator-denai-moore-i-swore|access-date=2017-05-23|website=The FADER}}
Early life and career
Moore was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, where she learned to play keyboards from her father. Her family moved to Stratford, London when she was 10.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/10073678/Denai-Moore-New-Faces.html|title=Denai Moore - New Faces|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=2017-05-23|language=en}} After she left school, she played in small clubs in East London, and appeared as a guest vocalist on SBTRKT's 2014 album Wonder Where We Land. She later signed with Because Music.{{Cite news|url=http://www.lesinrocks.com/musique/critique-album/denai-moore-elsewhere/|title=Denai Moore, la candeur électro-folk|last=Commeillas|first=David|work=Les Inrocks|access-date=2017-05-23|language=fr-FR}}
Moore's first single, "The Lake", was produced by Plan B.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/oct/11/denai-moore-the-lake|title=Denai Moore – The Lake: New music|last=Cragg|first=Michael|date=2013-10-11|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-05-23|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Her album Elsewhere was released in 2015 and produced by Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Savages).{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/05/denai-moore-elsewhere-review-debut-album|title=Denai Moore: Elsewhere review – debut album soaked in sadness|last=Cragg|first=Michael|date=2015-04-05|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-05-23|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Her second album We Used To Bloom was released in 2017.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/latest-news/denai-moore-announces-new-record-we-used-to-bloom|title=Denai Moore announces new record We Used To Bloom
|last=Day|first=Laurence|date=2017-05-10|work=The Line of Best Fit|access-date=2017-07-21|language=en-GB}} Modern Dread was released in 2020; in a review of the album The Guardian noted that "Moore’s hypnotically sinister beats take the listener on a surrealist journey into a fantasy world."
Moore became a vegan in 2015. In 2017, Moore founded a vegan supper club called Dee's Table.
Cookbook
In April 2023, Hardie Grant published Moore's cookbook, Plentiful: Vegan Jamaican Recipes to Repeat.{{Cite web |title=Hardie Grant snaps up vegan Jamaican cookbook by musician and chef Moore |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/hardie-grant-snaps-up-vegan-jamaican-cookbook-by-musician-and-chef-moore |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}} In July, the New York Times covered a dinner in honor of the cookbook at the Carl Freedman Gallery in Margate. The dinner was held at the opening of an art show curated by fashion designer Ronan Mckenzie.{{Cite news |last=Woo |first=Kin |date=2023-07-26 |title=A Vibrant Vegan Dinner on the British Coast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/t-magazine/denai-moore-ronan-mckenzie-margate-summer-dinner.html |access-date=2024-02-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
= Reception =
Mayukh Sen of The Washington Post said the book's "recipes imaginatively take advantage of the bounties of Jamaica."{{Cite news |last=Sen |first=Mayukh |date=2023-05-15 |title=This vegan chef and musician is changing the tune around Jamaican food |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/05/15/denai-moore-jamaican-vegan-cookbook-plentiful/}} Avery Yale Kamila of the Portland Press Herald included the book on her list of the best plant-based books of 2023.{{Cite web |last=Kamila |first=Avery Yale |date=2023-11-26 |title=With these books, give the gift of health (your own and the planet's): Several new cookbooks, a travel guide and two novels make excellent gifts for the vegan, vegetarian or the veg-curious person in your life. |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2023/11/26/with-these-books-give-the-gift-of-health-your-own-and-the-planets/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Press Herald}} Fliss Freborn of National Geographic included the book on her list of the best new summer cookbooks.{{Cite web |last=Freborn |first=Fliss |date=2023-07-13 |title=5 of the best new cookbooks for summer |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/best-new-cookbooks-summer-2023 |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Travel |language=en}}
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:People from Spanish Town
Category:Musicians from Saint Catherine Parish
Category:Jamaican singer-songwriters
Category:Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom
Category:21st-century Black British women singers