Lianne La Havas - Self Titled

It’s been a whole 5 years since London neo-soul singer songwriter, Lianne La Havas, released an musical project. I was lucky enough to catch one of her soothing live performances on the main stage at Wilderness Festival way back in 2016 where her voice shook my world and sent me off on various new musical journeys.

Lianne La Havas gracefully strode back into the spotlight with her self titled release earlier this summer. She continues to refuse to be pidegon holed into the vibrant South-London neo-soul and neo-jazz scenes in which she was so pivotal in forming back in the 2010s. Her music very much exists within the mainstream and the underground simultaneously which might be the reason why this album took so long to reach my radar.

Lianne La Havas sees her at her most open, vulnerable and beautiful. You really can’t avoid the groovy and slick hip-hop inspired neo-soul and pop beats that are so tied into her allure. There smooth variances in emotional songwriting so high and so deep that we really get the chance to see Lianne come out of herself and show us her most sugar coated ideals and pensive thoughts. ‘Weird Fishes’ is quite easily the best Radiohead cover going. It oozes personality and transforms a lull into something so intensely devoted that its hard to turn your back on. Where as ‘Paper Thin’ unravels and bleeds heartache and woe. It is clear that she has grown to be one of the best singer songwriters in the UK period. It really is her magnum opus and speaks to the soul in the purest sense.

Lianne La Havas is out now on Warner Records UK. It is available here: Spotify / Apple Music

Words by Callum Ritchie