***ALBUM OF THE MONTH | July 2020***
Lianne La Havas
Lianne La Havas
Nonesuch
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Lianne La Havas’ third album finds her at a strange juncture in her career. Her debut Is Your Love Big Enough? was acclaimed almost immediately. Nominated for the Mercury Prize and awarded iTunes’ album of the year for 2012, it introduced the wider world to a troubadour’s soul with a spine-tingling, mellifluous voice.
Her follow up Blood found even greater commercial traction and showcased a more expansive sound when it arrived in 2015. Despite the overwhelmingly positive reception the album garnered, something didn’t quite sit right with the South Londoner. There was a feeling that it didn’t quite represent the artist within fully. “What You Don’t Do” may have been a breezy, made-for-radio smash, but La Havas hadn’t written it and it rankled.
That dissatisfaction became obvious as she released further versions of the album as a “solo” venture—taking the quality material to something closer to her own heart’s intentions. These desires to be truer to her artistry were only enhanced by her friendship with Prince before his untimely passing. She has spoken numerous times of his assertion that she should appease only herself when it came to future endeavors.
So, how has she appeased herself this time round? The eponymous title itself indicates that those Princely exhortations have been heeded and in interviews leading to the release she has expressed the feeling that this is the truest representation of her artistry thus far. In which case, it better be good or there’s no place to hide. But it isn’t good, it’s much better than good—it is a wonderful, heady brew of her magnificent voice, some delicious guitar licks and songwriting that is the best of her career.
If you’ve seen her sing live, her guitar often has the feel of being both shield and sword—part comfort blanket for her and part weapon of subtle destruction to waylay the audience. Here, there is no need to protect herself as she navigates a course that is clearly her own, leaning heavily on soulful chords and delicate guitar playing.
“Bittersweet” is so blissfully produced and performed that it brings to mind those sublime slices of seventies soul—it is so well balanced and offers the opportunity for La Havas to unleash that devastating weapon of a voice. Plangent piano chords abound as she sings: “Bittersweet summer rain / I’m born again / All my broken pieces / No more hanging around, oh / Oh my sun’s going down / Telling me something isn’t right.”
Just the phrasing and annunciation of the individual “ohs” reveals the beauty of her voice—each one is infused with a slightly different mix of despair, hope or resignation and the natural catch in her voice when she shifts up the gears is the equivalent of a formula one car hitting the straight at top speed. It is thrilling and goose-bump inducing.
“Read My Mind” stitches some delicious guitar chords together with the trembling, whispered vocals of a woman in thrall to the power of new love. The end of the song positively radiates as a whole nebula of keys joins the party to create an atmosphere as light as the clouds above. “Green Papaya” is further proof of the production that creates a luscious, intense cocoon of intimacy. When La Havas sings “Mmm, take me home, let’s make a real love, real love” to the accompaniment of typically intricate guitar work, it is beautiful.
There’s (yet) another scarily catchy guitar riff on “Can’t Fight” before the sumptuous “Paper Thin” shuffles into view. More breathily sensual vocals and a hypnotic, blissful groove further enhance the feeling of weightlessness that permeates the entire album.
At the heart of the album is La Havas’ take on Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes” and it is magnificent. The beauty of the chord changes in the first part of the song are intensified by the smoky edges to her voice, while the mid-section’s layered vocals are cherubic. It is the final section of the song though, that sees her elevate the song to euphoric, soul-stirring, testifying heights. With each passing line she becomes more impassioned until it culminates in a form of musical transcendence.
To return to the enchanted bliss of shuffling backbeat and sumptuous guitar licks is both welcome and necessary after such a surging storm and it comes in the shape of “Don’t Make Me Cry,” which has a middle section of eerily beautiful vocal adlibs. There’s a slightly stripped back sound on “Courage” that allows the incandescent beauty of her voice to reveal even more of its bountiful character before what sounds like a Theremin adds some quirkiness as a counterbalance to the talk of loneliness.
As a statement of identity and independence, this album is exceptional. All the songs, bar the Radiohead cover, are written by La Havas and her exceptional talents shine throughout. Her guitar lines are so clean and emotive that barely a track passes without some moment of jaw-dropping loveliness and her voice is, simply put, majestic. It conveys such breadth and depth of feeling with subtle changes of tone and delivery.
In creating a lush, warm atmosphere, the album allows La Havas to mine the darker corners of love and emotional connection without the subject matter ever weighing it down—everything is delicately and artfully balanced. If this truly is a full portrait of the artist, then it reveals an artist freed from the shackles of following anyone else’s imprint for her career. Freedom looks good on Lianne La Havas.
Notable Tracks: “Bittersweet” | “Can’t Fight” | “Paper Thin” | “Weird Fishes”
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