Finger-picking rhythms, confessional lyrics, and effortless vocals

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During her recent appearance on the Dope Black Women podcast, Lianne La Havas was asked to define her musical style. ‘Indie R&B perhaps… With contemporary jazz influence‘, the British singer-songwriter answered after some hesitation, conceding her reluctance to be pigeon-holed. It’s an understandable frustration for La Havas and many other artists who owe their craft to a multiplicity of influences. While many musicians today are touted for their genre-blending work – for critics its often the go-to compliment – La Havas has a particular ear for synthesising different sounds, and a more identifiable aesthetic than most.

Five years since her sophomore release Blood (2015), and eight years since her debut Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), La Havas is back with her eponymous third album. Lianne La Havas is a more consistent offering than her previous projects – almost a concept album as she tracks the rise and fall of a relationship. There is a self-assuredness which permeates throughout; even when she’s hurting, she’s learning. Sonically, she eschews the busier, electronic production of Blood. She does what she does best: Finger-picking rhythms, confessional lyrics, and effortless vocals. She brings in light percussion and crafts heady codas with whispery backing vocals. Her version of Radiohead’s ‘Weird Fishes’, the album’s only cover, sounds well and truly hers.

“This is my first completely self-produced album with my own band. I got my own way with everything — all the decisions that you hear on this album were mine,” La Havas says in a press release. “I’m a woman now, so I’m less shy and timid about saying certain things. And there’s no right or wrong when it’s your record, so I was very much embracing that fact, as well.”

The lush, retro soul of ‘Bittersweet’, which samples Isaac Hayes, begins the record. La Havas sings of the end of a relationship, tempering the pain with a sense of renewal and freedom. With shades of Minnie Riperton and Roberta Flack, La Havas takes this ballad to glorious heights with her commanding vocal. She pushes harder and higher than usual – the release of her vocal mirroring the ‘rising-from-the-ashes’ arc of the lyric. Her live, fully orchestrated version from her concert at the Barbican earlier this year is a joy to watch.

‘Read My Mind’, a slick mid-tempo flecked with angular guitar, showcases La Havas’ rhythmic command and the subtlety of her inflections. Resting in the sweet spot of her range, she whisks her lyrics into butter. The tune, in La Havas’ own terms, is about ‘unapologetic flirtation’ and summery sensuality. ‘So right, I could make a baby tonight / Throw my life away, oh / I’ll die another day,’ she sings glibly.

Some of the less hummable melodies are lifted by her vocal performance. Take ‘Green Papaya’ as an example, which she colours with her slow, hypnotic vibrato. Sometimes you think La Havas might be too breezy for her own good, but she has an intelligence to her phrasing and knows when to vary her delivery. She takes the poppy ‘Can’t Fight’ and begins to ad-lib over the topline as she reaches the second chorus.

In ‘Paper Thin’, roughly halfway through the album, La Havas begins to unpick the troubles in her relationship. Delivered with a gossamer tenderness, she implores her partner to seek help. ‘If you’re trying to lose, you’ll never win / It’s your life / But you’re not the only one suffering,‘ she sings, trying to reason with him. She continues this sentiment with ‘Please Don’t Make Me Cry’ which borrows from the conventions of quiet storm with its Sade-esque chorus. She jolts the listener with the Brazilian-inspired ‘Seven Times’, switching from her conciliatory mode to a feistier statement of her self-worth. ‘Oh, you can’t spend my love, I’m living for free now / What used to be is nothing to me now.’

‘Sour Flower’ closes the album. Almost seven minutes in length, the song narrates La Havas’ journey back to Brixton in South London after ending things with her then-boyfriend in Los Angeles. She’s ‘waiting for the fog to drift away’ but, coming full circle with ‘Bittersweet’, has the resolve to seek out her own path. ‘Now I’m home, I know I’m gonna stay / Hard as it may be.’

Standout Tracks: ‘Bittersweet’, ‘Read My Mind’, ‘Please Don’t Make Me Cry’

Image Copyright: Warner Records UK