Naomi Greene isn’t interested in following the path; she’s more drawn to tracing her own. A Parisian-Californian artist known for blending raw emotion with a bold reimagining of classical instrumentation, Naomi has built a sound that is both intimate and cinematic. At its heart is the electric harp, an instrument she wields not as an ornament but as a compass. With her debut EP “Wounded Hero,” Greene delivers a luminous, genre-blurring portrait of transformation, weaving between English and French, sunlit indie pop, and experimental edge, all anchored in vulnerability and strength.
Across seven striking tracks, “Wounded Hero” reveals itself as a meditation on becoming, not in the sense of arrival but in the ongoing, often disorienting journey of change. Drawing from personal upheaval and deep introspection, Naomi threads together themes of identity, femininity, and rebirth, most vividly expressed in her minimalist visuals and the title track’s powerful video, where she shaves her head on camera. This act, both raw and symbolic, echoes the EP’s central premise: that true power often lies hidden in our wounds, waiting to be uncovered.
With past collaborations including M83, La Femme, and Laurent Voulzy and a recent feature in Armani’s global “My Way” campaign, Naomi Greene has long been a quietly magnetic presence in the music world. Now, with “Wounded Hero,” she steps forward fully in her own voice. In the conversation that follows, Naomi reflects on the origins of the project, the dualities of language and identity, and what it means to create art at the intersection of tenderness and rebellion.
You’ve brought a bold, electric edge to one of music’s most classical instruments—the harp. What drew you to reinvent it, and how did you first envision it fitting into alt-pop?
I was drawn to the harp from a very young age. It always felt like an instrument with the power to open portals. It’s ancient, ethereal, and strangely disarming. But when I was a teenager, I walked away from it. I was in rebellion against the conservatory and interested in rock music. It wasn’t until I was 19 that I picked it up again, and by that time, I was already a songwriter, and it made sense to sing with it. I started weaving the harp into alt-pop and electronic sounds because that’s the kind of music I was drawn to.
I never set out to “reinvent” the harp, but I did want to let it speak in a new context. I’m very interested in using an old instrument tied to mythology and femininity in a way that feels modern and fresh.
Wounded Hero EP is such a striking and intimate debut. What does the title mean to you, and when did you know it would define the entire project?
The title Wounded Hero came to me before the EP was finished, as a kind of North Star. All the songs seemed to orbit the themes of transformation, vulnerability, and courage.
The archetype of the hero embodied these themes for me: bravery coming from wounds and his ability to confront his shadow. There is no hero without a wound; it’s the wound that initiates the transformation. It’s the crack that lets the light in. The seven songs on the EP ended up reflecting the different stages of healing and transformation on this journey.
You describe the EP as “a portrait of a woman becoming.” What were you becoming, or unbecoming, while making this body of work?
I think becoming is a never-ending process, right? When can we truly say with confidence that we have “arrived”? I started writing this EP in a disorienting and liberating time of my life, when my personal life was changing drastically. This involved an accident and a breakup that had shaped much of my twenties, and suddenly I was facing myself in a new way.
Writing this EP became a way of documenting—and celebrating—that shift, of stepping into my womanhood, my voice, my power. I even shaved my head during the process, and I’ve never felt more like a woman. This body of work feels like a self-portrait of someone in motion, in transformation. I know I’ll continue to evolve, but Wounded Hero captures me at this threshold.
Your decision to include songs in both English and French adds a rich duality to the EP. How did you approach writing in both languages? Do certain emotions or themes feel more natural to express in one language over the other?
Absolutely. I was raised in Paris, but my mother is American, so moving between French and English has always been second nature. I think and dream in both languages. But it’s true that certain memories and moods seem to just belong more to one language than the other. Instead of choosing between them, I decided to let both exist in the songs of the EP. I think it reflects who I am.
The visuals, especially the title track video where you shave your head, are raw and minimalist. What inspired that act, and how does it connect to the themes of the EP?
Shaving my head on camera felt like a rebirth ritual. The shaved head symbolizes both strength and vulnerability, which is exactly what Wounded Hero is about.
For a woman, a shaved head isn’t neutral. It stirs something. It challenges the norms around beauty, femininity, and identity. It also evokes haunting symbols like sainthood, prisoners, illness, rebellion, etc. For me, it was about shedding an old skin and stepping into a new version of myself. Reclaiming my femininity on my own terms. Exploring what it means to be raw, exposed, and in my power.
Doing it on camera felt bold and a little bit dangerous: I only had one shot and couldn’t miss! It was important for me for the video to be the physical manifestation of what I was doing sonically and emotionally throughout the EP: undoing, revealing, becoming. I wanted the visuals to hold that same vulnerability—minimal, unguarded, real.
You’ve collaborated with iconic names like M83 and La Femme. How did working with them shape your own voice, and how did you feel ready to express a solo that couldn’t be said in collaboration?
I’ve been lucky to work with quite a few incredible artists, and each collaboration has taught me so much. How to serve a song, learning different approaches, worldviews, and musical vocabulary… I’ve had a lot of fun diving in their worlds. But I’ve always written my own songs and known that my path was to sing in my name. For years, I was waiting for the perfect moment, for all the stars to align. But that moment never really came, so after a few years of touring for Laurent Voulzy, I took matters into my own hands and released this music. It was time.
Wounded Hero isn’t trying to sound big—it’s trying to reflect where I am right now. And that could only happen on my own terms. Collaboration gave me tools and perspective, but going solo is where I can fully express my voice. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
Mon Amie Prodigieuse and Cœur Solaire stand out not only sonically but lyrically. What personal truths or narratives were you weaving into those particular songs?
Mon Amie Prodigieuse was inspired by a feverish friendship I had as a teenager—intense, intimate, a little ambiguous. Reading Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend opened a floodgate of memories, and I realized how rarely those kinds of female friendships—full of desire, admiration, and unspoken tension—are talked about, let alone sung about. I wanted to capture that blur of emotion: “What if it was love, and what if it wasn’t? Who cares, don’t you think?”
Cœur Solaire speaks to ephemeral summer loves in order to speak to personal emancipation and the thirst for freedom with playfulness. The harp melody builds with delicate melancholy towards the feeling of a blazing sun in the chorus. It’s about wanting to crack your heart open so wide that you could let the whole world in. It’s about wanting to love the entire world, limitless, without being tied down.
What do you hope listeners take away from Wounded Hero, not just sonically but spiritually?
That’s a really beautiful question. I hope Wounded Hero reminds us that every wound is an opportunity to grow, to change, and to listen more closely to ourselves. We don’t get to choose what hurts us, but we do get to choose what we do with it and how we transform. Pain is often a catalyst for change and for the unexpected to emerge. As Leonard Cohen says, the cracks are how the light gets in!
My hope is that these songs create a space for more self-acceptance and that people recognize themselves as the wounded heroes of their own stories. Vulnerability is a powerful act, and it takes courage. We’re all unfinished and in flux, and maybe that’s the most beautiful part.
Can you share what’s on the horizon—whether it’s new music, collaborations, or live shows?
Yes, there’s so much blooming. I’m celebrating the release of Wounded Hero with a special show in Paris on June 4th at Dover Street Market, and I’ll be performing around France throughout June. This summer, I’ll be back in the studio—July and August are for recording the new songs, many of which are already written and waiting to come to life.
I also just played harp on a gorgeous new duet that released this week between Juliette Armanet and Theodora called “Les Oiseaux Rares.”
In the fall, I’ll be performing in the U.S. and Mexico, and next year I’ll be taking my music to Japan!
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