Lianne La Havas

About Lianne La Havas

Nonesuch Records releases London–based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Lianne La Havas’s debut album on August 7, 2012, following its release by Warner Bros. in the UK. The album was recorded in Brooklyn and Los Angeles the previous summer and was produced by Matt Hales (Aqualung). La Havas, whose first US dates were opening for Bon Iver on the band’s late 2011 Midwestern tour, made her NY debut in March at a sold-out show at the Mercury Lounge.

La Havas’s acclaim has been steadily growing over the last two-and-a-half years. She released two critically praised EPs, performed a series of sold-out concerts around the UK, and had a handful of high-profile media appearances, including a performance in November on the BBC’s Later with Jools Holland on a bill with Bon Iver, which led to the opening slot on that group’s US tour. As Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon told Esquire (UK):“As soon as we saw her play it was so refreshing; somebody who could play their instrument, somebody who could use their voice, but in their own way. She is just fantastic.”

La Havas recently was nominated for the BBC’s Sound of 2012 honor and was chosen as one of MTV’s Hot Tips for 2012. A native of South London, with Greek and Jamaican parents, La Havas began teaching herself to play piano, write songs, and sing at the age of seven. Her family’s diverse taste was very influential, as she told Time Out London, when she was a child, her grandparents babysat her often: “They’re from Jamaica, so when I was growing up I listened to a lot of religious reggae–almost hymns, but in a reggae style–on cassettes. But at the same time my mother was listening to a lot of '80s and '90s Michael Jackson, and Mary J Blige, who I loved from a very early age. Plus India Arie, Jill Scott and The Fugees. I saw my father often, and he played the accordion, piano and guitar.” La Havas began singing backup for other musicians while attending art college for a year before deciding to focus on her own career as a solo artist and songwriter.