SPOTLIGHT: LIANNE LA HAVAS HITS TOWN
26-year-old U.K. artist’s musical path has become routinely remarkable
Lianne La Havas
Sunday, 6:30 p.m. | Commodore Ballroom
Tickets: $31, plus charges at Ticketmaster
Fine. Good. OK.
Those are the usual responses to the somewhat banal greeting of “How are you?” or “How’s life these days?”
It’s actually more of a reflex if anything, sort of fulfilling an obligation in a social contract with a check mark.
So Lianne La Havas’ response, while one that seems automatic, is nonetheless different, sincere and telling. How’s life? “It’s very exciting, very busy and very fulfilling,” the U.K. artist says from her hotel room on this side of the Atlantic, where she’s just embarked on a tour.
Her comment is a pretty great indicator of how the 26-year-old’s world and career have been going for the past five years, since signing a major label development deal with Warner Music fresh out of school.
What followed has been remarkable: the release of three EPs, appearances on BBC in her homeland, a North American tour with Bon Iver and the release of her full-length debut in 2012, Is Your Love Big Enough?, which only escalated the attention, receiving accolades, a nomination for the Mercury Prize and earning the iTunes Best of 2012 Album of the Year.
The folk, soul, R&B and pop hybrid sound that drew comparisons as wide and as varied as Amy Winehouse, Sade and Lauryn Hill also earned her some famous fans, including Prince, who featured La Havas prominently on his 2014 release Art Official Age, and invited her to appear with him — and some might say steal the show — during his epic Saturday Night Live set that year. He even held a news conference and did a performance in her living room in London.
La Havas’ response to having a backer like that is almost as telling as her opening reply. “It’s brilliant. But it’s no more gratifying than anybody else liking what I do.” She laughs. “Just so you know.”
She will, however, admit to a certain kinship with His Purpleness when it comes to artistry and following your muse to wherever it might lead.
“It really is up to the artist what they want to do. And they,” she pauses, “they have to do it. Artists do because they have to, not because the record company told them to. It’s always because you feel compelled to.
“And he’s one of those people who is so great at following that thing and not really caring what anyone thinks.”
Perhaps that’s why when it came time for La Havas to record her followup to that acclaimed debut, she took her sound further, delivering with Blood, which was released this summer, an album that not only lived up to expectations, but exceeded them.
The album was influenced, in spirit, not necessarily in musical tone, by a pair of trips she took to Jamaica, the birthplace of her mother. She and her mom bonded on that initial journey and La Havas has expressed often that getting in touch with that side of her family and family in general — her father is of Greek heritage — affected her and the record. But more important, La Havas was inspired by the sights and the people of the Caribbean nation.
“It’s one of the most beautiful places that I’ve seen in my life,” she says simply.
She was also inspired to return and begin writing and recording with dance hall producer Stephen McGregor, who would become one of several producers contributing to Blood. And while only one track from those early sessions would make it to the record — the gorgeous vocal showcase Midnight, which La Havas calls “maybe my favourite thing that I’ve ever done” — she says it bled into the rest of the record.
That includes the sense of adventure that permeates the often-stunning 10-song collection. Yes, it’s a little smoother, perhaps a little slicker than that first outing, but it also finds La Havas stretching out in all of those earlier directions, delivering something that builds on Is Your Love Big Enough? rather than copying it.
And with good reason. Like her princely fan and friend, she’s hoping to build a career that will defy all of those expectations and follow a path that’s as rich and rewarding as it is varied.
“I get a little frustrated that the consensus is that if you sounded a certain way on your first album that that’s all that you can do and that’s all that you’re like,” she says. “That’s absolutely not the case. And all of the musicians I’ve ever met love loads and loads of things. And I think more people would love to just explore and do what they want to do.”