Lianne La Havas made a brief trip to the US for a set at the Essence Festival and sold-out shows in LA and NYC last week. "[W]hat comes across first is the sheer grace of her voice," says the New York Times review of the NYC show. "It can be a breathy purr, a lilting tease, a liquid confession or a torchy declaration ... She was already distinctive on her 2012 debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, which fused neo-soul, folk and jazz in songs built around her briskly syncopated guitar playing, often juggling three-against-two patterns behind supple tunes ... Her music pushes further in the songs on [her new album,] Blood." La Havas returns to North America to tour this fall.
English singer/songwriter/guitarist Lianne La Havas made a brief trip to the United States for a set at the Essence Festival in New Orleans and sold-out shows at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and Bowery Ballroom in New York last week. The concerts included music from her forthcoming album, Blood, due July 31, and favorites from her debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, released on Nonesuch in 2012.
"In the songs of Lianne La Havas intricate cross-currents are something to sail above. There are cross-currents of rhythm and harmony, of melancholy and bliss, of romance and self-determination, of playfulness and purpose," writes New York Times music critic Jon Pareles in his review of that last show. "But what comes across first is the sheer grace of her voice. It can be a breathy purr, a lilting tease, a liquid confession or a torchy declaration. She often introduces a melody by landing firmly on each note, then returns to toy with it in sliding, fluttering phrases, not for vocal display but to convey a sense of freedom."
"She was already distinctive on her 2012 debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, which fused neo-soul, folk and jazz in songs built around her briskly syncopated guitar playing, often juggling three-against-two patterns behind supple tunes," Pareles goes on to say. "Her music pushes further in the songs on Blood. Some allow more funk and rock, revealing a bolder side to her voice ... Her lyrics also delve further ..."
The review later concludes that "with her electric guitar in hand her fingers were busy: plucking and picking through knotty jazz chords, delineating cross-rhythms, guiding the entire band. She was setting up all the musical crosscurrents that she would navigate with such poise."
Read the complete concert review at nytimes.com.
Lianne La Havas returns to North America to tour this fall, including additional stops in New York (Terminal 5 on September 26), Los Angeles (The Fonda Theatre, October 16, and the Masonic Lodge, October 19), and many more. For details and tickets, which include a download of the new album, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
To reserve a copy of Blood, head to iTunes or the Nonesuch Store and download two new tracks now.
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