[1][2] As an adult, she spent two years in Paris, France, giving her what she described as a "fresh perspective on ballads and mood music", before a move to Wales saw her join her first band, Calliope.
[3][4][5] Later moving to London, she searched for a record deal and discovered a newspaper advert from electronic duo Shut Up and Dance, consisting of members PJ and Smiley, who were looking for a singer.
[6] Writer Joe Muggs describes both songs as pivotal for showing breakbeat hardcore being "born out of house, hip hop and techno", but noted that Nicolette's "velvet" jazz harmonies provided an unlikely contrast.
[2] Released in March 1991, her second single "Waking Up" defined the singer's sound most clearly, according to Kodwo Eshun, due to its distinctive "syntactic swerve, instant hooks and sparse backdrop".
"[7] Having built up underground momentum with her "left-field club cuts", including with the further single "Wicked Mathematics" (1992),[1] Nicolette said that the idea to release an album came naturally to PJ and Smiley and herself.
"[3] According to critic Martin Pearson, the record owes as much to the singer's jazz vocals as it does to the hardcore production, adding that it "veers between dancefloor destruction and sparkling acappella ambience.
"[1] According to Eshun, the sharp contrast between the elements in Nicolette's sound were unique for the resultant "distinct lack of dancefloor fusion", with music clattering ahead of the languid vocals.
[3] Muggs writes that although the album's music had no precedent, Nicolette's "deep jazz undertow", mischief and lyrical philosophy are "absolutely infused" into the British breakbeat rave sound it exemplifies.
In an article for Select, Martin Pearson wrote that although the singer would be suited for dreamy, acoustic guitar-based folk music, her decision to pair with Shut Up and Dance's minimalist, "headbone-kicking beats" resulted in an unusually successful combination, and described the album as possessing a "determinedly different sound.
"[1] An unspecified writer for the Newcastle Evening Chronicle was more reserved, feeling the jazzy, Porgy and Bess-esque singing and energetic music made for a disappointing combination.
[18] Besides lending her vocals to various collaborations, including on Massive Attack's Protection (1994), Nicolette rarely recorded in the ensuing four years after the release of Now Is Early, only resuming her discography in 1996 after singing to Talkin' Loud.
[2] In a positive retrospective review, John Bush of AllMusic described Now Is Early as charting "an intriguing course between her soulful, house-influenced vocal work and the more hardcore production sound.
"[9] "[Nicolette] cites the drum 'n' bass movement as one of the most exciting underground musical developments this country has seen in years, a sentiment backed by her first album, the aptly-titled Now Is Early which mashed her angelic voice over hectic beats at a time when the word jungle didn't even exist."
[12][21] Reynolds credits the album for predicting the jazz-tinged directions explored by jungle music in 1995–96, finding this exemplary of Shut Up & Dance's large legacy and citing it among several releases on the label which "anticipated crucial stands of the jungalistic sound system," alongside Rum & Black's "Bogey Man" (1991) and the singles of The Ragga Twins.
[16][22] Vibe wrote that Now Is Early "proved too odd for mainstream appeal" on its release in 1992, but added that "given the eventual success of similarly idiosyncratic vocalists like Björk", the album was perhaps "simply ahead of its time.
"[13] Michael Lawson of The Guardian describes Now Is Early as a "majestic, jazz-infused" album that exemplifies PJ and Smiley's continued creation of "innovative music" after their work with the Ragga Twins.