La Havas is known for her powerful emotional delivery and a live performance that will leave you unsatisfied with anything less
With a debut album that grabbed the attention of critics and fellow artists around the world (including Prince and Stevie Wonder), as well as earning her nominations as prestigious as the Mercury prize; Lianne La Havas has quite the reputation to uphold.
The strength of her album ‘Is your Love Big Enough?’ lies in La Havas’s effortless vocal range, soulful rhythms and stunning vibrato. A fusion of pop, folk, R&B/soul and jazz; La Havas is a hard one to pigeon hole – but not unintentionally. She finds herself drawn to the “strength and wisdom” of powerful female voices and so incorporates a wide range of influences including Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone and more recently, Laura Marling.
After touring with her first album, La Havas travelled to Jamaica to explore the culture on her mother’s side of the family. Immersed in music, it was through this journey into her heritage that she found much of the inspiration for her latest album, aptly named ‘Blood’. This influence is not presented through reggae beats however, but through a beautiful sense of nostalgia and storybook lyrics – particularly in the track ‘Green & Gold’ which holds a relatable longing for a sense of self placed in a moving autobiographical context.
La Havas is known for her powerful emotional delivery and a live performance that will leave you unsatisfied with anything less. It will be interesting to see how she arranges such a variety of genres and tempos on the stage, but I have every bit of faith that her incredible voice will carry any unique arrangement with ease.
Check out ‘Green & Gold’ right here:
