SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
FALL, 2016
VOLUME THREE NUMBER TWO
ERIC DOLPHYAN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
FALL, 2016
VOLUME THREE NUMBER TWO
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
BOBBY HUTCHERSON
September 10-16
GEORGE E. LEWIS
September 17-23
JAMES BLOOD ULMER
September 24-30
RACHELLE FERRELL
October 1-7
ANDREW HILL
October 8-14
CARMEN McRAE
(October 15-21)
PRINCE
(October 22-28)
LIANNE LA HAVAS
(October 29-November 4)
ANDRA DAY
(November 5-November 11)
ARCHIE SHEPP
(November 12-18)
WORLD SAXOPHONE QUARTET
(November 19-25)
ART BLAKEY
(November 26-December 2)
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lianne-la-havas-mn0002440425/biography
LIANNE LA HAVAS
(b. August 23, 1989)
Artist Biography by Andy Kellman
Lianne La Havas
arrived in the early 2010s with a mostly acoustic and hushed hybrid of
alternative folk and soul. The singer, songwriter, and guitarist was
born and raised in London, England, the daughter of a Jamaican mother
and Greek father. She was a member of the Paris Parade with Christian Pinchbeck (a future member of Elephant), but the act proved to be short-lived. La Havas eventually shifted to solo work and released Lost & Found, a four-track EP featuring a duet with Willy Mason, in October 2011. Two months later -- the same month she opened for Bon Iver during a North American tour -- it was announced that she had been nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll. Is Your Love Big Enough?, La Havas'
debut album for Warner Bros., was released in the U.K. in July 2012 and
reached number five; the U.S. release through Nonesuch followed a month
later. The set was produced almost entirely by songwriting partner Matt Hales (aka Aqualung). One major fan was Prince, who had La Havas contribute to his 2014 album Art Official Age. Around the same time, she also appeared on recordings by Alt-J and Tourist. Her second album, the bolder and more produced Blood,
followed in 2015. Informed by a trip to Jamaica but additionally
inspired by her Greek heritage, the set was preceded by the tracks
"Unstoppable" and "What You Won't Do" and was issued that July.
http://www.npr.org/2015/07/22/424726800/first-listen-lianne-la-havas-blood
Review: Lianne La Havas, 'Blood'
Among the delights of Lianne La Havas' 2012 debut Is Your Love Big Enough?
was its sense of scale. Here was a songwriter of considerable lyric
skill and pop ambition who didn't always follow the prevailing
verse/chorus/hook code — particularly the expectation that fireworks
need to arrive within the first 90 seconds, and repeat on cue 60-90
seconds later.
Some of her best songs, such as "Lost and Found" and "Au Cinéma,"
took their time gaining steam. Even when she reached the emotional apex
moments, she didn't necessarily go full-bore for the rafters. Confiding
rather than belting, she cultivated an ethos of intimacy that lured
listeners into her songs. She didn't need to scream, or pump up big
orchestral surges, to hold attention.
That shifting approach to
scale made La Havas' debut wonderfully refreshing — it became the U.K.
iTunes Album of the Year and brought her to the attention of Prince, with whom she collaborated on his Art Official Age.
But as a career direction for an artist with commercial aspirations, it
was probably doomed — too subtle, too drifty, not enough big-box-store
singalongs.
So here comes Blood, and right away, with
the breezy "Unstoppable," La Havas sounds like she's gone over to the
hits-at-any-price team. It's got all the easy middlebrow charm of an Al Jarreau
record from the '90s, except with drop-dead riveting vocal
elaborations. Happily, they're plentiful enough to essentially erase the
generic melody. Also happily, that opener turns out to be the only
moment on the record that feels contrived. From there La Havas manages
to graft the wide dynamic range (and abrupt shifts in texture) of her
first effort onto tunes that inch closer to mainstream pop.
Sometimes that means her music follows a tighter structural script. A few of these songs, like the confessional "Midnight" and "Never Get Enough," flip rapidly between hushed rubato meditations and more fervent, hard-kicking refrains.
Others hunker down in a single mood and tempo, but that doesn't mean they're simplistic. "Wonderful" is a bracingly genuine lament about a failed romance, made poignant by an uncluttered arrangement that gives La Havas room to brood. "What You Don't Do," which repurposes the cheery shuffle groove blazed first by Sly Stone on "Hot Fun In the Summertime," finds La Havas savoring a relationship that's grown so strong it no longer needs to be affirmed in sweet-nothing words. "I know you love me, I don't need proof," she shouts — and her voice is so darned blissed that when she later proclaims "I've forgotten how to be blue," you believe her.
Here, the sweep and intensity of the song is controlled,
almost completely, by La Havas' phrasing. As that ageless groove rolls
along, she commands a variety of devices — from little tossed-off shrugs
to choppy Chaka Khan syncopations to imploring shouts with traces of Whitney Houston
in them — to change the weather. It's pure pop, and the kind of
stunning, kinetic performance we rarely hear on the radio these days.
That song is one example of the more rhythmically assertive material La Havas offers on Blood.
She began work on this record while visiting family in Jamaica, and has
said that in nearly every case, a single rhythmic phrase served as the
trigger or guiding idea. She engaged many top shelf collaborators for
the project, including dancehall producer Stephen McGregor, Adele
co-writer Paul Epworth and producer Mark Batson. All of them seize upon
and work to magnify the dramatic contrasts that La Havas leans on in her
writing. Perhaps the most vivid example arrives late in the record, on a
song called "Never Get Enough" co-written with Batson. It's another
affirmation of a lover, and though it starts out all sleek, in a
seafaring Sade
mood, it goes much stormier when La Havas begins shouting, as if
through a bullhorn. She's all the way in it, doesn't seem to care if she
sounds unhinged. Her sudden unhingedness might be the point.
These
sometimes jarring transitions lend unexpected dimension to La Havas'
writing — they make the songs, which survey romantic relationships in
various states of messiness, feel epic even though most just last around
four minutes. It's unusual to encounter such roller-coastering mood
swings — the becalmed poise of Minnie Ripperton giving way to the fulminating power of Nina Simone
— in this realm, where digital perfection is the norm and the peaks and
spikes get smoothed over. It's even more unusual to hear a singer so
confident in her ability to bring the extremes (particularly the quiet
ones) across so vividly.
Blood is out July 31 on Nonesuch.
Folk-Soul Singer-Songwriter Lianne La Havas on the Worldly Inspirations Behind Her New Album 'Blood'
From her lilting accent to what she calls an "all day long" tea habit, folk-soul singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas is London to the core. But her gorgeous second LP, Blood
(July 31, Warner Bros.), is a global affair, inspired in part by the
25-year-old's international travels and background. La Havas breaks down
the many places and spaces behind the album.
Jamaica
"My mom is Jamaican, and I went with her to stay with an old cousin. I was so emotional. I saw my great-grandmother's house, my granddad, an uncle I'd never met before. It helped me understand who I really am in a different way than I ever have. I got the chance to work with [producer] Stephen McGregor [Mavado, Elephant Man] in Kingston, which is like hallowed ground. Now, when my family calls Jamaica 'home,' I know what they're saying."
Tokyo
"The song 'Tokyo' is about the loneliness you feel when you're going from place to place. Tokyo seemed like the best place to discuss that: It's such a bustling city, but you can feel so alone there. The movie Lost in Translation is about that -- it was in our minds when we were writing."
New York
"New York is a great place for me to write. It's like a movie set -- it feels so familiar because of films and videos. It's like you've already been there, but it's even bigger and better than what you heard about it."
Greece
"My father is from Greece. I was 8 when I last went, but it's still really fresh. We went to see the Acropolis, for example, and the crumbling -- I remember it vividly. In the song 'Green and Gold' I use the lyric 'ancient stone' to represent Greece and my father, who was a stone mason. I'm so proud they're my parents -- that's why I called the album Blood. I have this rich cultural past to feast on."
Listen to Blood, and more music from this week's issue, in the Spotify playlist below:
This story originally appeared in the Aug. 8 issue of Billboard.
http://www.npr.org/event/music/445047157/lianne-la-havas-tiny-desk-concert
Jamaica
"My mom is Jamaican, and I went with her to stay with an old cousin. I was so emotional. I saw my great-grandmother's house, my granddad, an uncle I'd never met before. It helped me understand who I really am in a different way than I ever have. I got the chance to work with [producer] Stephen McGregor [Mavado, Elephant Man] in Kingston, which is like hallowed ground. Now, when my family calls Jamaica 'home,' I know what they're saying."
Tokyo
"The song 'Tokyo' is about the loneliness you feel when you're going from place to place. Tokyo seemed like the best place to discuss that: It's such a bustling city, but you can feel so alone there. The movie Lost in Translation is about that -- it was in our minds when we were writing."
New York
"New York is a great place for me to write. It's like a movie set -- it feels so familiar because of films and videos. It's like you've already been there, but it's even bigger and better than what you heard about it."
Greece
"My father is from Greece. I was 8 when I last went, but it's still really fresh. We went to see the Acropolis, for example, and the crumbling -- I remember it vividly. In the song 'Green and Gold' I use the lyric 'ancient stone' to represent Greece and my father, who was a stone mason. I'm so proud they're my parents -- that's why I called the album Blood. I have this rich cultural past to feast on."
Listen to Blood, and more music from this week's issue, in the Spotify playlist below:
This story originally appeared in the Aug. 8 issue of Billboard.
http://www.npr.org/event/music/445047157/lianne-la-havas-tiny-desk-concert
https://www.facebook.com/The-Panopticon-Review-342702882479366/
March 22, 2015
All,
First, full Disclosure: I’m a "toreup from the floorup" Lianne FANATIC and have been since she first came floating out of nowhere 3 years ago (she’s only 26 now). I mean DAMN, where are all these endlessly badass black women singers and musicians pouring out of Great Britain/UK/England these daze (e.g. Lianne. Laura Mvula, Beverly Knight, Emeli Sande, Caron Wheeler, Mica Paris, Shara Nelson, Estelle, etc. etc. etc.) COMING FROM? What’s in the water on that tiny coldass island over there ‘cause clearly whatever it is these incredible sisters have been DROWNING in it. Enjoy this beautiful young genius and her amazing songs…and pass the word…
Kofi
http://www.npr.org/event/music/445047157/lianne-la-havas-tiny-desk-concert
Tiny Desk
Lianne La Havas
National Public Radio
VIDEO: <iframe width="600" height="338" src="http://www.npr.org/templates/event/embeddedVideo.php?storyId=445047157&mediaId=445096460" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
In 2012, my kids introduced me to Lianne La Havas' debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough? One play and I was hooked; I've been a fan ever since. Her music works for any activity, any emotion.
The first time I saw La Havas live, I was unprepared for the experience: Her music touched my heart in a way I'd never experienced before. I cried through the entire performance. Her music was that powerful, with lyrics woven together with beautiful harmonies; it pulled emotions out of me I didn't even know existed.
La Havas is soulful yet playful, raw and vulnerable in a commanding kind of way, and her new second album, Blood, is as amazing as the first. In this Tiny Desk performance, she plays two new songs — "What You Don't Do" and "Unstoppable" — as well as "Forget," from her first album. She and her talented collaborators, James Wyatt on piano and Frida Mariama Touray on backing vocals, rehearsed this special arrangement during the sound check just moments before the performance. It's wonderfully intimate, with just guitar accompanied by vocals that embellish without getting in the way. If you're like me, you will never get enough.
Blood is available now. (iTunes) (Amazon)
Set List
- "What You Don't Do"
- "Unstoppable"
- "Forget"
Producers: Suraya Mohomed, Morgan Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Walker, Nick Michael, Julia Reihs; Production Assistant: Kate Drozynski; photo by Jun Tsuboike/NPR
For more Tiny Desk Concerts, subscribe to our podcast.
http://www.npr.org/artists/164325115/lianne-la-havas
http://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/music/lianne-la-havas-being-described-as-a-soul-singer-annoys-me-10254071.html
Lianne La Havas interview: 'Being described as a soul singer annoys me'
Mercury Prize nominee talks soul, being Prince’s friend and rediscovering her Jamaican roots
The Evening Standard (UK)
http://www.fuse.tv/2016/02/lianne-la-havas-interview-third-album
Interview
Interview: Lianne La Havas on Her Next Album, GRAMMY Nod and Solo Tour
"I
feel really a great sense of freedom being able to play my songs alone,
because I only have myself to rely on," says the English
singer-songwriter, who's stripping down her work for intimate
guitar-and-mic gigs
February 5, 2016
Lianne La Havas drastically expanded her musical world for her second album, 2015's Blood: She recorded in Jamaica, worked with Paul Epworth (Adele, Paul McCartney, U2),
dropped the
mesmerically ornate "Unstoppable" as her first single and toured with a
robust band of multi-instrumentalists. Now the 26-year-old Londoner is
doing a
limited run of American solo performances—just her and her guitar, sporting the sound that
characterized much of her luminous 2012 debut Is Your Love Big Enough?
Before La Havas' Brooklyn performance tonight (Feb. 5), she spoke to Fuse about Blood getting a GRAMMY nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album, the very different direction she'll take for the new record she's now writing, plus eating at Cracker Barrel as a vegan.
Fuse: Can we start with the GRAMMY nod? You're in the same category as The Weeknd, Miguel, The Internet and Kehlani.
Lianne La Havas: It's amazing. It's completely amazing. I can't believe I'm nominated for a GRAMMY. That just makes all of my worries about anything I've ever worried about completely go away.
That's a strong reaction.
I'm very, very proud. I'm so honored to be able to go there and represent the U.K. as well, and just be able to say that my whole album was acknowledged for a GRAMMY potentially. I feel like I've already achieved a great amount just by being nominated.
How has the solo tour been so far? Tonight's your fourth show.
It's been absolutely amazing. I'm so glad I did it. I'm not even halfway through yet, but it's so—it's just been so brilliant. All the crowds have been so gorgeous and lovely and supportive. I feel really a great sense of freedom being able to play my songs alone, because I only have myself to rely on. And initially I was a little bit daunted by that fact, but having done it now, I really feel a great sense of newfound confidence in the whole thing. And I would do it again and again. It's where I came from, just playing on my own, writing songs on my own—I love it. There's a lot to be said for playing guitar and singing.
Before La Havas' Brooklyn performance tonight (Feb. 5), she spoke to Fuse about Blood getting a GRAMMY nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album, the very different direction she'll take for the new record she's now writing, plus eating at Cracker Barrel as a vegan.
Fuse: Can we start with the GRAMMY nod? You're in the same category as The Weeknd, Miguel, The Internet and Kehlani.
Lianne La Havas: It's amazing. It's completely amazing. I can't believe I'm nominated for a GRAMMY. That just makes all of my worries about anything I've ever worried about completely go away.
That's a strong reaction.
I'm very, very proud. I'm so honored to be able to go there and represent the U.K. as well, and just be able to say that my whole album was acknowledged for a GRAMMY potentially. I feel like I've already achieved a great amount just by being nominated.
How has the solo tour been so far? Tonight's your fourth show.
It's been absolutely amazing. I'm so glad I did it. I'm not even halfway through yet, but it's so—it's just been so brilliant. All the crowds have been so gorgeous and lovely and supportive. I feel really a great sense of freedom being able to play my songs alone, because I only have myself to rely on. And initially I was a little bit daunted by that fact, but having done it now, I really feel a great sense of newfound confidence in the whole thing. And I would do it again and again. It's where I came from, just playing on my own, writing songs on my own—I love it. There's a lot to be said for playing guitar and singing.
How'd you feel on the first night?
Honestly, terrified. It's not like I've never played solo before, but after a whole year of feeling like I needed a band in order to interpret my new album, I was understandably a bit like, "Oh no, what if nobody likes it?" I had the fear. But then as soon as I got onstage, I felt completely at home and I realized this is what I do, and I love what I do, and it's just making me love it even more. So: before stage, terrified, after stage, very excited and very proud.
Not that fear is always logical, but it doesn't seem likely that people are going to hate seeing one of their favorite artists playing solo in a small venue.
[Laughs] Well, you know, I didn't think of it that way. 'Cause a lot of my audience seems to be also musicians and they're all very creative people. There's maybe a certain element of...I want to please them, and I know they've got probably very high standards, as I do myself.
How do you rate yourself as a guitarist? Your arrangements and playing are really complex.
Well that's very kind of you, thank you very much. Yeah, it's something I'm always trying to get better at. I love the guitar and I love the amount of possibilities that it offers you for having your own style and your own voice. It's such a phenomenon, the guitar, 'cause you can do so much on it. But I don't know, I still feel like I've got lots of ground to cover. I've only just scratched the surface, really, even though I've been playing for about eight years, it's still like it's just the beginning. And I also started pretty late and I've never had a proper guitar lesson, so I would love to actually see what that's like. I don't feel by any means a professional but I would call myself a guitarist for sure.
So you still push yourself to learn, to stretch?
Yeah, I have to. Can I be honest with you? There are some songs on the album that, because I had a band, I never had to learn. For example, "Green & Gold"—I could've done [that song], but my diary was ridiculous last year, so I had literally no time to even sit down and play the songs alone, until before this tour. I said, Look, if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna have to do all these songs I've never played. So I just pushed myself and I'm so glad I did. I know it sounds silly, 'cause I wrote them, but I've never actually sat down and played and sung certain songs in one go. I was panicking, obviously, but then I did it and I was like, "Oh yeah, it's fine, I can play guitar, it's fine."
What's your favorite place Blood has taken you?
Probably to the GRAMMYs. It's been a highlight of my life, to be honest, this whole situation. But also, I was able to play one of my dream, dream, all-time favorite venues, which was Brixton Academy in London, just before Christmas. I have always wanted to play there ever since I went to see gigs there, ever since I was growing up and and hearing about it. I'm from South London, from near Brixton, so it was kinda like a homecoming when I went back there. I couldn't believe that was all my audience. That was a big, big moment in my life after releasing Blood.
Watch Fuse and Lianne La Havas' 2015 conversation about the making of Blood:
What's a song from Blood that's stuck with you more than you might have expected?
One that I really love to perform is "Unstoppable." And having been on this solo tour, that one seems to feel different to the others. Because it has the most instrumentation of all the songs on the album, doing this one alone just gives it a whole new life. It's the one that I go back to, yeah.
Is there an older song you never get sick of, one you could play every night?
"No Room for Doubt." I'll always love that song because of where I was when I wrote it. It was my first single and it was the first time I felt like I deserved to have a single out. I felt really proud of it. So whenever I play it, I get that feeling again.
Where were you when you wrote it?
I was in New York City. I was actually in Brooklyn, in an apartment, in an Airbnb, and I recorded it there with Willy Mason and wrote it there with him. It just reminds me of a lovely time. It was a very hot summer, I remember, in 2011. And that song happened, and I remember thinking, Right, I guess I'm gonna be a singer then. I always get that feeling.
Just before getting on the phone, you tweeted that you have great stuff coming this year and that you can't say what it is.
Yes. Not yet. But I will tell you, obviously, but I just can't tell you yet. I don't wanna get in trouble. But, yeah...that's all. I can't say.
Can you say how you feel about it without saying what it is?
I'm very excited about it. Very excited about a couple of things. That's what I'll say.
"Very excited."
[Laughs] Yeah, I try.
One that I really love to perform is "Unstoppable." And having been on this solo tour, that one seems to feel different to the others. Because it has the most instrumentation of all the songs on the album, doing this one alone just gives it a whole new life. It's the one that I go back to, yeah.
Is there an older song you never get sick of, one you could play every night?
"No Room for Doubt." I'll always love that song because of where I was when I wrote it. It was my first single and it was the first time I felt like I deserved to have a single out. I felt really proud of it. So whenever I play it, I get that feeling again.
Where were you when you wrote it?
I was in New York City. I was actually in Brooklyn, in an apartment, in an Airbnb, and I recorded it there with Willy Mason and wrote it there with him. It just reminds me of a lovely time. It was a very hot summer, I remember, in 2011. And that song happened, and I remember thinking, Right, I guess I'm gonna be a singer then. I always get that feeling.
Just before getting on the phone, you tweeted that you have great stuff coming this year and that you can't say what it is.
Yes. Not yet. But I will tell you, obviously, but I just can't tell you yet. I don't wanna get in trouble. But, yeah...that's all. I can't say.
Can you say how you feel about it without saying what it is?
I'm very excited about it. Very excited about a couple of things. That's what I'll say.
"Very excited."
[Laughs] Yeah, I try.
You only have two albums so far, so it's always exciting to find you've guested on someone else's song. Are you planning more collaborations?
I'm very open-minded in the studio and I love to try and get the most out of any creative collaboration. And it's definitely something I'll be doing a lot more of this year, because I'm starting work on my new album immediately. You can expect some collaborations of some kind, whether it's for me or for them or just something for everyone, there's gonna be a lot more of that. I like having my brain expanded by other people's ideas, and I like potentially expanding someone else's brain with my ideas.
You're starting on the next record now?
Yes. Exactly. I'm hoping to have it all written, at least written, by the end of the year, and then hopefully have something to release next year. I've got a little bit more breathing space this year and I'm just planning it so I've got adequate time to be creative but also adequate time to play shows and festivals and do all that fun stuff, as well as all the fun stuff in the studio. That's what this year is about for me.
That's fast. Last time you had a three-year gap.
Yeah. No, I know, I know. But I just didn't want to hang around, you know? I don't see any point in wasting any time. I want to use all my time for the better.
What are you going for with this one?
I want it to be a pure, the purest representation of who I am so far. Just something that is completely untainted by any outside interference. I feel like it really needs to come from me this time. Not that it doesn't, but...the process of making the last album was fun, but I don't think I wanna do it that way again. I wanna keep it a little bit more contained and just show who I am, who I'm becoming as a musician, as a producer and as a songwriter.
Going back to Twitter again here, sorry—
That's okay, I tweet a lot.
So you're vegan and you went to Cracker Barrel. How'd you make out?
I ordered the sweet potato with steamed broccoli on the side and salad. You just basically have to order all the sides at Cracker Barrel, and that's how you do it.
Did you get anything from the shop?
Uh, yes I did, I got one of those crazy peg games. I don't know what it's called—but you know, with the triangle and the pegs.
The one that's on the table when you eat.
Yes, exactly [laughs]. I thought that would be a cool souvenir to remember my time at Cracker Barrel, in the depths of America.
You're sure you didn't just swipe it from the table?
No, I bought it. I got a brand new one. Still in the plastic. It's for the long drives. And I will crack it.
Lianne La Havas' U.S. solo tour runs through Feb. 11. For more, read our extended 2015 conversation and check out a clip detailing the story behind the metal-tinted Blood track "Never Get Enough"
http://www.fuse.tv/2015/07/lianne-la-havas-interview-blood
Exclusive Interview
The Long Talk: Lianne La Havas on 'Blood,' Prince's Long Shadow & Jamaica
The British singer-songwriter just dropped her sensational second album; here's our full, unfiltered conversation
August 6, 2015
Fusion
We waited three years for Lianne La Havas to follow up her iridescent debut, Is Your Love Big Enough?, and our patience has been rewarded something like a million times over. Blood is
powerful in its songwriting and production, perfect in its conveyance
of everything that makes Lianne La Havas a total original. The
25-year-old Brit spoke to Fuse about getting her parents to dance to Blood, why the title isn't a horror thing, her Alabama Shakes adoration and the aftermath of becoming buddies with Prince. Here's our complete conversation; you can watch video clips here and below.
Does it seem like ages between Is Your Love Big Enough? and this one?
To me, it doesn't really feel like a long time, because I've been so busy touring. But I'm aware it has been three years [laughs] since the first album came out.
A lot of times there's a pressure to get the second one out right away, and it ends up sounding like Album 1.5. But Blood feels like you were looking at the bigger picture and spending time making a completely different piece of work.
Yeah, the process was completely different with making it. Whereas with the first album, I spent a lot of time on my own and just kind of playing guitar to myself until I was ready to share it with my producer, and then we'd make songs together but it was never really more than, you know, me and him. The second album, we did a lot of...well, I did a lot of exploration, I met lots of producers, and it was very lovely to work with the ones that I did work with, because they're amazing, and I've been a fan of a lot of their work growing up. For example, Mark Batson, I worked with, and he notably did India.Arie's first album, which I loved. And I worked with Paul Epworth, you probably know loads of stuff that he's done.
And you went to Jamaica.
That was kind of a big portion of the album becoming what it was, my trip to Jamaica with my mother, who is of Jamaican descent. My father is Greek, so I went to Greece as a child. So I went with my mom to Jamaica and met a producer while we we there. I thought it would be a great opportunity to make music in Jamaica; his name's Stephen McGregor, and his dad's called Freddie McGregor, who's a reggae artist. But I was just immersed in music, and basically every experience after that, it felt like I knew what I wanted from it and how to get what I wanted and how to recognize the feeling that I wanted the music to give me when I was making it. So it turned it up to just a completely different entity.
Does it seem like ages between Is Your Love Big Enough? and this one?
To me, it doesn't really feel like a long time, because I've been so busy touring. But I'm aware it has been three years [laughs] since the first album came out.
A lot of times there's a pressure to get the second one out right away, and it ends up sounding like Album 1.5. But Blood feels like you were looking at the bigger picture and spending time making a completely different piece of work.
Yeah, the process was completely different with making it. Whereas with the first album, I spent a lot of time on my own and just kind of playing guitar to myself until I was ready to share it with my producer, and then we'd make songs together but it was never really more than, you know, me and him. The second album, we did a lot of...well, I did a lot of exploration, I met lots of producers, and it was very lovely to work with the ones that I did work with, because they're amazing, and I've been a fan of a lot of their work growing up. For example, Mark Batson, I worked with, and he notably did India.Arie's first album, which I loved. And I worked with Paul Epworth, you probably know loads of stuff that he's done.
And you went to Jamaica.
That was kind of a big portion of the album becoming what it was, my trip to Jamaica with my mother, who is of Jamaican descent. My father is Greek, so I went to Greece as a child. So I went with my mom to Jamaica and met a producer while we we there. I thought it would be a great opportunity to make music in Jamaica; his name's Stephen McGregor, and his dad's called Freddie McGregor, who's a reggae artist. But I was just immersed in music, and basically every experience after that, it felt like I knew what I wanted from it and how to get what I wanted and how to recognize the feeling that I wanted the music to give me when I was making it. So it turned it up to just a completely different entity.
How long after that trip did you turn in the record?
Um, it was about a year from the beginning of the process. I finally delivered it a couple months ago.
Do you have a sense of what your family in Jamaica and what your mom felt about you being so inspired by the trip and making music there? "Green & Gold" is pretty nakedly about Jamaica.
Funnily enough with "Green & Gold," though, it was written here in New York, off the back of a second trip to Jamaica. But it was a huge...that kind of connection with my heritage and discovery of long-lost relatives was a huge portion of why I called the album Blood. So it's not violent. My mother and I didn't really know how moving it would all be when we went on the trip, and when we came back we were closer than we've ever been. It got me thinking not only about my Jamaican family but then equally about my Greek family, and also just growing up in London and being neither of those things but only those things. So, I dunno, I just thought loads and loads about it. My cousin had a baby, so I was thinking about that. I'm also at an age where my grandparents are getting older; you can see that they're like old people now. Everything suddenly had new importance when I got home from Jamaica. But regarding the song "Green & Gold," my mom and dad have heard it, and basically I just wanted them to like it, because it is about them, and they're very proud and they totally get it, which is great.
Were you nervous to show them?
No, I was excited. I was, um...my mom is quite a tough critic [laughs], whereas my dad's quite like, "Yeah, I love this, it's so good, it's so good." He still has very specific taste, but with my mom it's even more specific in a way, so I thought if she liked it, everything would be fine, and if my dad can dance to it, everything is fine. Both things happened.
"Unstoppable"
is this layered, big album-opener sort of song; I'd never expect it as
the single, but it actually does that job so well.
"Unstoppable" was actually one of the later songs I wrote for the album, and so it still kind of feels new to me. I'm absolutely thrilled that it's the first single, and I love the song—there's not one that I don't love, and if there was, it wouldn't be on the album. "Unstoppable" shows a different side of what I do, and it shows a side that I didn't know I had until I recorded it. That was with Paul Epworth, and it was a real experience to work with him, he's such an amazing guy that...I dunno, it didn't real feel like we were working. But then this song suddenly existed.
Did it happen often, making this, that you made something you had no idea would be on a Lianne La Havas record beforehand?
The whole album, basically, I didn't expect to be like it was—but I actually can't imagine it being any other way now. It's just...it was there, it was there somewhere, it just needed to come out, so it now has. It makes me excited now for the third album, like what in the hell I'm gonna do.
Are you thinking about what your music's going to sound like five albums in, eight albums in, and how many different things you'll try? Or is that way too far ahead?
No, I think about the future a lot. I've gotten into planning lately, and I like to have everything organized. I was thinking very seriously about this as a career, obviously, but having done this second album, it's cemented the idea that I'm going to do this for the rest of my life. So I am thinking about all the things I want to say and all the sounds I want to make, and it's great having the opportunity. It's like having something to look forward to.
You were still just kind of weighing this out as a career not that long ago?
[Laughs] When I say it's what I want to do, it's just because there's loads of other stuff I feel like I wanna do, but I actually really...this is the thing that brings me the most happiness. I thought that before with the first album, but then I made the second one and it was a whole new level of happiness that it brought me, which meant I'm serious now.
"Unstoppable" was actually one of the later songs I wrote for the album, and so it still kind of feels new to me. I'm absolutely thrilled that it's the first single, and I love the song—there's not one that I don't love, and if there was, it wouldn't be on the album. "Unstoppable" shows a different side of what I do, and it shows a side that I didn't know I had until I recorded it. That was with Paul Epworth, and it was a real experience to work with him, he's such an amazing guy that...I dunno, it didn't real feel like we were working. But then this song suddenly existed.
Did it happen often, making this, that you made something you had no idea would be on a Lianne La Havas record beforehand?
The whole album, basically, I didn't expect to be like it was—but I actually can't imagine it being any other way now. It's just...it was there, it was there somewhere, it just needed to come out, so it now has. It makes me excited now for the third album, like what in the hell I'm gonna do.
Are you thinking about what your music's going to sound like five albums in, eight albums in, and how many different things you'll try? Or is that way too far ahead?
No, I think about the future a lot. I've gotten into planning lately, and I like to have everything organized. I was thinking very seriously about this as a career, obviously, but having done this second album, it's cemented the idea that I'm going to do this for the rest of my life. So I am thinking about all the things I want to say and all the sounds I want to make, and it's great having the opportunity. It's like having something to look forward to.
You were still just kind of weighing this out as a career not that long ago?
[Laughs] When I say it's what I want to do, it's just because there's loads of other stuff I feel like I wanna do, but I actually really...this is the thing that brings me the most happiness. I thought that before with the first album, but then I made the second one and it was a whole new level of happiness that it brought me, which meant I'm serious now.
What else do you do aside from music? I think I read you wanted to be an art teacher at one point?
I did used to want to be an art teacher, because I wanted to be involved in the creative industries. But I also wanted a sort of practical way of making a living as well, so I thought if I was a teacher, that would be a good job to have, and if I was an art teacher I could be really creative. I did start art college, but my life took a different turn, being a singer. I still love to paint, and I love design—clothing design, furniture design, architecture. I love cooking. I love films, and I'm interested in directing things perhaps in the future. So yeah, lots of avenues I reckon have opened up now because of this.
When the Blood stuff started to trickle out, with the "Unstoppable" video and that cover art, it was suddenly a lot clearer you're very into all the little visual details.
I really appreciate you noticing that.
Tell me about the video. It was surprising to see you with no guitar, just dancing and singing to the camera.
Yeah [laughs], I think that was basically the point, so that I could represent myself and my song for the second album in a different way. With that song, it was recorded...even though I played guitar on it, when I listened, I never imagined me playing the guitar, you know? I only wanted to dance. So I thought, "How could I do this on screen and show that I love doing acting?" And I also think you should just do everything that you want to do. The point behind it was basically my performance, just really expressive movement to represent the kind of ecstasy in the song and what it's about.
Did you work with a choreographer? It seemed like you might've just been freestyling.
I did work with a choreographer for the first time. Turned out I really liked doing that. It was kind of half choreographed, and then half improvised. It was great to just have a space to twirl around in.
I don't think I've seen you step away from the guitar onstage before. Do you? Will you when you're touring Blood?
Yeah, there are songs—for example there's a piano, and there are songs where I do leave the guitar on the first album. But this time I have employed a second guitarist so I can have the choice, basically. Because I realized a lot of my guitar parts, they don't dip in and out, they are just constant, so I just have to have a guitar in there all the time. However, having a second guitarist, we can interplay together, I can lose the guitar altogether, so there's just lots more options.
You can do the move where your guitar just hangs there and you sing.
Exactly.
I did used to want to be an art teacher, because I wanted to be involved in the creative industries. But I also wanted a sort of practical way of making a living as well, so I thought if I was a teacher, that would be a good job to have, and if I was an art teacher I could be really creative. I did start art college, but my life took a different turn, being a singer. I still love to paint, and I love design—clothing design, furniture design, architecture. I love cooking. I love films, and I'm interested in directing things perhaps in the future. So yeah, lots of avenues I reckon have opened up now because of this.
When the Blood stuff started to trickle out, with the "Unstoppable" video and that cover art, it was suddenly a lot clearer you're very into all the little visual details.
I really appreciate you noticing that.
Tell me about the video. It was surprising to see you with no guitar, just dancing and singing to the camera.
Yeah [laughs], I think that was basically the point, so that I could represent myself and my song for the second album in a different way. With that song, it was recorded...even though I played guitar on it, when I listened, I never imagined me playing the guitar, you know? I only wanted to dance. So I thought, "How could I do this on screen and show that I love doing acting?" And I also think you should just do everything that you want to do. The point behind it was basically my performance, just really expressive movement to represent the kind of ecstasy in the song and what it's about.
Did you work with a choreographer? It seemed like you might've just been freestyling.
I did work with a choreographer for the first time. Turned out I really liked doing that. It was kind of half choreographed, and then half improvised. It was great to just have a space to twirl around in.
I don't think I've seen you step away from the guitar onstage before. Do you? Will you when you're touring Blood?
Yeah, there are songs—for example there's a piano, and there are songs where I do leave the guitar on the first album. But this time I have employed a second guitarist so I can have the choice, basically. Because I realized a lot of my guitar parts, they don't dip in and out, they are just constant, so I just have to have a guitar in there all the time. However, having a second guitarist, we can interplay together, I can lose the guitar altogether, so there's just lots more options.
You can do the move where your guitar just hangs there and you sing.
Exactly.
I won't ask you to answer your millionth question about Prince and that working relationship and what he's like—but what I'm curious about is: What has it been like to be so consistently asked about Prince for so long? It makes me think of this time earlier this year when Björk said she's
tired of always being asked about the male influences on her music and
how the focus can shift so easily from a female artist's work to the guy
she collaborated with. Different things, but what's your experience
been like?
Of course people want to know what he's really like, and because he's maintained his mystique so well it does seem a little out of character for him to just approach some of the normal South London singers like myself [laughs]. And to be honest, it is really surreal. I understand why people might wanna ask, and that's fine, and I'm, you know, happy to say he's a great guy because he is, and I'm just honest about it as much as I can be. But yeah, I think that they can...I mean, he's got tons of albums that you can listen to [laughs]. It is interesting, though.
Of course people want to know what he's really like, and because he's maintained his mystique so well it does seem a little out of character for him to just approach some of the normal South London singers like myself [laughs]. And to be honest, it is really surreal. I understand why people might wanna ask, and that's fine, and I'm, you know, happy to say he's a great guy because he is, and I'm just honest about it as much as I can be. But yeah, I think that they can...I mean, he's got tons of albums that you can listen to [laughs]. It is interesting, though.
Can you talk about "Never Get Enough," the second-to-last song on the album? It's like half a metal song.
Yeah, kinda. It was a funny one, that one. "Never Get Enough," sonically, is one of my favorites because of the kind of...the drop that happens. I got a new nylon-string guitar, I'd never owned one before. And I got it in L.A. and I was with Mark Batson, and I brought it to the studio and I was like, "I have to record, this guitar sounds amazing." So I just started playing something and there were some chords of a song I will not name that I always loved the combination of, so I adapted them. And then we were quite happy with our verse and how it was going, and then we were quite relaxed, maybe had some wine [laughs], just having a lovely time, and then I started hearing a riff in my head, and I was like, "Mark, can you do this? Can you play this?" [Mimics riff.] He had to just go with me on it. And then I would start describing the textures that I was hearing, saying, "Have you got a bass sound that's like this, but maybe something else on top of that that's a bit more flute-y, something like this, then we'll put guitar on it?" And he just sort of went with me until we had built this tremendous chainsaw-esque bit of music. Basically, I've always wanted to just fuse everything, like nice Bossa Nova, kind of rhythmic, silky something with a really harsh, buzzy kind of erratic music and beats with a distorted vocal. That's what we ended up with [laughs].
Chainsaw, that's exactly it. How'd you decide which songs to keep adding pieces to and layering, like that, versus the ones where it's still just pretty much you and the guitar?
I think it depends on the song. It felt like "Never Get Enough" wanted to be louder and angrier. I also like to make the songs sound like what the words are about, and then you can have that nice kind of...there's something else that you can grab from it. But generally—because I'd also like to be a producer in the future, so I think about this a lot—I think with songs you kind of just have to let them lead the way of what they need rather than you chucking stuff at it just because. It needs to feel like it would be necessary, you know?
Yeah, kinda. It was a funny one, that one. "Never Get Enough," sonically, is one of my favorites because of the kind of...the drop that happens. I got a new nylon-string guitar, I'd never owned one before. And I got it in L.A. and I was with Mark Batson, and I brought it to the studio and I was like, "I have to record, this guitar sounds amazing." So I just started playing something and there were some chords of a song I will not name that I always loved the combination of, so I adapted them. And then we were quite happy with our verse and how it was going, and then we were quite relaxed, maybe had some wine [laughs], just having a lovely time, and then I started hearing a riff in my head, and I was like, "Mark, can you do this? Can you play this?" [Mimics riff.] He had to just go with me on it. And then I would start describing the textures that I was hearing, saying, "Have you got a bass sound that's like this, but maybe something else on top of that that's a bit more flute-y, something like this, then we'll put guitar on it?" And he just sort of went with me until we had built this tremendous chainsaw-esque bit of music. Basically, I've always wanted to just fuse everything, like nice Bossa Nova, kind of rhythmic, silky something with a really harsh, buzzy kind of erratic music and beats with a distorted vocal. That's what we ended up with [laughs].
Chainsaw, that's exactly it. How'd you decide which songs to keep adding pieces to and layering, like that, versus the ones where it's still just pretty much you and the guitar?
I think it depends on the song. It felt like "Never Get Enough" wanted to be louder and angrier. I also like to make the songs sound like what the words are about, and then you can have that nice kind of...there's something else that you can grab from it. But generally—because I'd also like to be a producer in the future, so I think about this a lot—I think with songs you kind of just have to let them lead the way of what they need rather than you chucking stuff at it just because. It needs to feel like it would be necessary, you know?
Is there anybody in the pop or hip hop realms who pushes you, influences you, makes you think?
Can I say Alabama Shakes? I love Alabama Shakes. The new album is amazing; I was intrigued on the first album, but this one just really struck me, caught me off guard, actually. I think her voice is so powerful, and I haven't really heard anything like it, so I'm just in awe of Alabama Shakes. And Kanye West continues to surprise me. I saw him perform, actually, at the BRIT Awards—
With the flamethrowers?!
Yeah! I heard there was this huge disconnect with the people watching at home. But I was there and just thought it was amazing and it was so bold; it was like I was watching an art piece, like he knew what he was doing. It was so intense and different.
What influences you outside of music? Films, books, weird Internet stuff...
Mostly like actual photography. I went to a Guy Bourdin exhibition in London at Somerset House and it was so amazing and that was kind of... I went to see it around the time where it was getting to the point where I had to decide on my album artwork and what to do, and I thought, "What a good idea, to have carefully constructed compositions for a photo." Like, why wouldn't you compose a photo like you would a painting? And then genuinely I love films. I love Woody Allen; Annie Hall is probably one of my favorite women in film. Yeah, I dunno, lots of things—just the way things are shot, the way the scene makes you feel because of the colors and movement, stuff like that. I think a lot of people making music videos want to make films, so it's like a little halfway.
Can I say Alabama Shakes? I love Alabama Shakes. The new album is amazing; I was intrigued on the first album, but this one just really struck me, caught me off guard, actually. I think her voice is so powerful, and I haven't really heard anything like it, so I'm just in awe of Alabama Shakes. And Kanye West continues to surprise me. I saw him perform, actually, at the BRIT Awards—
With the flamethrowers?!
Yeah! I heard there was this huge disconnect with the people watching at home. But I was there and just thought it was amazing and it was so bold; it was like I was watching an art piece, like he knew what he was doing. It was so intense and different.
What influences you outside of music? Films, books, weird Internet stuff...
Mostly like actual photography. I went to a Guy Bourdin exhibition in London at Somerset House and it was so amazing and that was kind of... I went to see it around the time where it was getting to the point where I had to decide on my album artwork and what to do, and I thought, "What a good idea, to have carefully constructed compositions for a photo." Like, why wouldn't you compose a photo like you would a painting? And then genuinely I love films. I love Woody Allen; Annie Hall is probably one of my favorite women in film. Yeah, I dunno, lots of things—just the way things are shot, the way the scene makes you feel because of the colors and movement, stuff like that. I think a lot of people making music videos want to make films, so it's like a little halfway.
So what about playing live for this tour? Do you have a concept of what you want to do?
So the live show is now a little bigger, which is nice, and now I feel like I have just some of the most amazing musicians in the U.K. I'm biased, because they're all incredible. I want people to dance, obviously, because of the nature now of this album, there's just a few more opportunities. But, equally, I want people to feel really emotional. So yeah, it's a little bit bigger, got some better lights [laughs], which is nice, and I have incorporated the album artwork into the set, so I think it looks really beautiful.
What's the vibe of being in the U.S. as a performer, for you? Do you feel really comfortable? Do you feel like a stranger?
Whenever I leave my home country, I feel in a strange way more free because no one necessarily knows you, so you can almost just do what you want. I do feel very welcome here and I'm lucky enough to have a very nice audience here, from what I've experienced in the past. They're very, very cool people and very forthcoming with their appreciation. And I love traveling, so it is a great perk of the job, just getting to come here and hang out. New York is an extremely cool city to me, so it's great.
Cooler than London?
It's great [laughs].
http://www.npr.org/2015/08/06/429718372/a-rush-of-blood-lianne-la-havas-turns-up-the-volume
Music Interviews
A Rush Of 'Blood': Lianne La Havas Turns Up The Volume
At 25, singer Lianne La Havas has established herself as a guitarist, a songwriter and a singer, with fans that include Stevie Wonder and Prince. Her new album is titled Blood, and it's almost like a reintroduction. La Havas tapped her own heritage for inspiration: Her father is Greek and her mother Jamaican, and it was a holiday visit to the latter island that got her thinking about her sound.
"I loved how acceptable it is everywhere to just listen to music really loud, you know?" she says of Jamaica, where she recalls seeing a car rigged up with a makeshift sound system, its speakers pointing out the window. And yet there are moments on Blood that recall the cool, nuanced effects of La Havas' debut, Is Your Love Big Enough? The song "Wonderful," one of the barest on the new album, looks into the past with both its music and lyrics.
"Basically, I was going through a breakup, and at the same time I was starting to write about maybe trying to get back together," she says. "'Wonderful' kind of was the culmination of all those feelings, so I thought, 'I'm just going to fondly remember and write a nostalgic ode to him, so he knew it meant something to me.'"
La Havas' impact keeps growing, and she's spending more and more time in the U.S. — where she says she's found a different set of expectations than in the U.K.
"The first time I ever was called black was when I went to America," she says. "In London, it was just always the norm that all kids from everywhere all hung out, being mixed. It wasn't a thing, basically — you are Lianne. I feel very lucky that the album came out the way it did, you know, how it sounds, because that's all I really want to be judged on."
Hear more of La Havas' conversation with NPR's Audie Cornish at the audio link.
THE MUSIC OF LIANNE LA HAVAS: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MS. LA HAVAS:
Lianne La Havas - "Green & Gold" | LIVE Lorraine
2016 March 11:
Lianne LaHavas: NPR Music --Tiny Desk Concert
October 02, 2015:
Set List:
Lianne La Havas (Live at Glastonbury 2015)-- [FULL SET]:
0:01 - Unstoppable
4:39 - Green & Gold
9:43 - Au Cinema
14:08 - Is Your Love Big Enough?
18:06 - Midnight
22:09 - Tokyo
27:19 - Grow
31:08 - Age
34:42 - What You Don't Do
39:41 - Never Get Enough
44:21 - Forget
Lianne La Havas Live In concert at Glastonbury 2015. As the incredible first single from her forthcoming second album, Blood, suggests, this London singer-songwriter is unstoppable. She was nominated for the BBC Sound of 2012 poll, was awarded iTunes Album of the Year for her debut, Is Your Love Big Enough? later in the same year, then in 2014 none other than the king of music, Prince, played a gig in her living room.
The daughter of musicians (her mother played with Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott), La Havas brings a broad range of influences to her songs – anything from folk, pop, rock, R&B, soul and jazz. She sang Dream A Little Dream of Me – made famous by The Mamas and The Papas – with Jools on Later… in May, then covered the Etta James classic At Last on Fearne’s last ever Radio 1 show. This Glastonbury is her second, following an acclaimed 2013 performance; the difference now is that she’s even better than she was two years ago.
Mix - Lianne La Havas - "Tokyo" [Live Performance]:
Lianne La Havas – "Unstoppable"-- (Official Video):
Lianne La Havas (full concert) - Live @ Casino de Paris:
March, 2016:
Concert Setlist:
0:45 - No Room for Doubt 6:00 - Greeen & Gold 12:15 - Au Cinema 17:00 - Is Your Love Big Enough? 21:30 - Wonderful 27:15 - Fairytale 32:25 - Ghost 36:50 - Lost and Found 42:05 - Tokyo 46:55 - Unstoppable 56:15 - Don't Wake Me Up 1:01:10 - Elusive 1:06:06 - Grow 1:11:40 - Never Get Enough 1:17:15 - Midnight Encore: 1:24:00 - Age 1:28:30 - I Say a Little Prayer (cover) 1:34:15 - Forget
Lianne La Havas-- (Live at Afropunk 2014)-- [FULL SET]:
First dose of AFROPUNK Festival 2014 - full set from birthday girl Lianne La Havas on August 23, 2014.
Concert Setlist Times:
2:33 No Room For Doubt
7:38 Midnight
11:44 Forget
17:23 Au Cinema / Master Blaster
24:18 Ghost
29:05 Age
32:14 Tokyo
36:47 Lost & Found
41:41 Is Your Love Big Enough
46:38 Grow
Lianne La Havas – "What You Don't Do" (Official Video):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lianne_La_Havas
Lianne La Havas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lianne La Havas | |
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La Havas in 2013
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Background information | |
Birth name | Lianne Charlotte Barnes |
Born | 23 August 1989 London, England, United Kingdom |
Origin | London, England, United Kingdom |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 2011–present |
Labels |
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Associated acts | |
Website | www |
Lianne Charlotte Barnes (born 23 August 1989),[1][2] known professionally as Lianne La Havas, is a London-born British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians and singer Paloma Faith, for whom she sang backing vocals. In 2010, La Havas signed to Warner Bros. Records, spending two years developing her songwriting skills before releasing any music publicly. La Havas' debut studio album, Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), was released to positive reviews from critics and earned her a nomination for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll and awards for the iTunes Album of The Year 2012.[3]
Contents
Early life
La Havas was born in London, England, to a Greek father and Jamaican mother.[4][5] She was raised in Tooting and Streatham, spending the majority of her time with her grandparents after her parents separated.[6] La Havas began singing at seven, and cites her parents' diverse musical tastes as having the biggest influence on her music.[7] Her father, an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, taught her the basics of guitar and piano. Lianne wrote her first song at the age of 11, but did not learn to play the guitar until she was 18 years old. Lianne sang in her school choir.[8] She attended Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College for Girls in Thornton Heath where she studied art A-level, and had planned to take an art foundation course before she decided to leave college to pursue a career in music full-time.[6] Although born Lianne Barnes, her stage name is an adaptation derived from her Greek father Henry Vlahavas's surname. She lives in London.[1]Career
Beginnings and debut
Whilst attending sixth-form in Croydon, a friend of La Havas', the singer and songwriter Allan Rose (who had attended the Brit School), introduced her to other musicians who would assist La Havas in the recording of her first demos.[6] Through that same friend La Havas was also introduced to British singer Paloma Faith; she later sang backing vocals on tour for Faith. La Havas was discovered on Myspace in 2008. Duncan Ellis, owner of Scruffy Bird Artist Management, first heard of La Havas through colleague Alex Hardee of the Coda Music Agency, and it was love at first scroll as Ellis skimmed the material on her Myspace page.[8] When Ellis first saw La Havas perform, she was in the duo the Paris Parade, collaborating with future Elephant member Christian Pinchebeck (who designed the artwork for Lost & Found and is also now part of the duo Memphis Industries duo Elephant); their short-lived career would kick off La Havas' career in commercial music.[9] In 2010, Lianne signed to Warner Bros. Records, spending two years developing her songwriting skills before releasing any music publicly.[10][11]
Her first EP Lost & Found was released on 21 October 2011 on the Labour of Love label,[12] featuring Willy Mason on the opening track "No Room For Doubt".[13] That same month, La Havas released the live EP Live From LA, which was made available for free download on her website.[14][15] La Havas made her television debut on 21 October 2011 broadcast of BBC Two's Later… with Jools Holland, a programme that also featured Wisconsin folk band Bon Iver;[16] soon after this on 25 October 2011 it was announced that La Havas would be the supporting act for
Bon Iver's December 2011 North American tour.[17]
Her official debut single "Lost & Found" was released in the UK on 30 April 2012,[18] and her debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough? was released on 9 July 2012 on Warner Brothers.[10] At the end of 2012, Is Your Love Big Enough? was named iTunes Album of the Year. On 24 September 2012, September La Havas supported Alicia Keys at MTV 'Crashes' Manchester, a live performance in front of 1,000 people in Manchester Cathedral, which was broadcast in 164 countries. On 31 December 2012, she appeared on BBC Two's New Year's Eve show Jools' Annual Hootenanny singing Cow Cow Boogie. On 9 June 2013, La Havas played at the RockNess music festival in Inverness, Scotland,[19] and on 30 June 2013 La Havas performed at the Glastonbury Festival 2013.[20] La Havas also performed at the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2013.
In early 2014, Prince played a gig in her living room in London.[21] She also appeared on Alt-J's 2014 album This Is All Yours on the track "Warm Foothills". On 30 September Prince released Art Official Age, featuring La Havas heavily through the album, singing in "Clouds" and providing vocals on "Affirmation I&II", "Way Back Home" and "Affirmation III".[22] La Havas performed with Prince on an episode of Saturday Night Live as a featured vocalist on 3 November 2014.[23] She collaborated with Aqualung on the song "Eggshells" from his upcoming album 10 Features, released on 19 January 2015.[24]
2015: Blood
After touring was completed for her first album, La Havas and her mother travelled to Jamaica. During the trip, La Havas was inspired to write new material, which would eventually become part of her second album. She gave a live performance for her family with producer, Stephen McGregor, who would later co-produce her forthcoming album. Many of the songs were inspired by La Havas' reconnection to her Greek and Jamaican heritage.[25] The first single, "Unstoppable", from this album, Blood, premiered for streaming on 1 April 2015. The single, which was co-written with Paul Epworth, was officially released in the UK on 1 June 2015. Its music video premiered on 12 May 2015 on La Havas' official YouTube channel. Blood will be released on 31 July 2015 for physical and digital formats. La Havas will embark on a tour in the UK and Europe in support of album from mid-May to September 2015.[26][27] La Havas features twice on Rudimental's upcoming album, We the Generation (2015), on the songs "Needn't Speak" and "Breath". She appeared on the popular "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS in the United States on October 27, 2015, singing with Colbert's regular band, New Orleans jazz bandleader Jon Batiste and Stay Human.[28]La Havas plays a hollow-bodied 1964 Harmony Alden Stratotone guitar, which is put through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp on stage with her band. For solo gigs she uses a SansAmp DI'd, and a Roland CUBE amp is used for practice.[29]
Discography
Main article: Lianne La Havas discography
- Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012)
- Blood (2015)
Awards and nominations
Year | Organisation | Award | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | BBC Sound of... | Sound of 2012[3] | Lianne La Havas | Nominated |
2012 | Barclaycard | Mercury Prize[30] | Is Your Love Big Enough? | Nominated |
iTunes Best of 2012 | Album of the Year[31] | Is Your Love Big Enough? | Won | |
2013 | MOBO Awards[32][33] | Best Female Act | Lianne La Havas | Nominated |
Best R&B/Soul Act | Lianne La Havas | Nominated | ||
2015 | 58th Annual Grammy Awards | Best Urban Contemporary Album [34] | Blood | Nominated |
Music videos
- "No Room for Doubt (feat. Willy Mason)" (2011)
- "Forget" (2012)
- "Lost & Found" (2012)
- "Is Your Love Big Enough?" (2012)
- "Forget" (2nd version) (2012)
- "Gone" (2013)
- "Elusive" (2013)
- "Unstoppable" (2015)
- "What You Don't Do" (2015)
- "Green&Gold" (2015)
Concert tours
- Is Your Love Big Enough? Tour (2012–13)
- Blood Tour (2015–16)
- Announced as the main support act for Coldplay on their 2016 Latin American and European Tour[35]
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lianne La Havas. |
- Official website
- LianneLaHavas.net – Fansite about Lianne La Havas