Lianne La Havas, a new star sticking around
25 January 2012
It's really easy to simply shrug off the next young British (soul)singer who gets tossed to the ceiling by some major label, hoping she will stick. Every year we have five of those, and perhaps one of them gets a shot at building a solid career and catalog. There are still plenty of potential pitfalls for Lianna La Havas. But based on her songs, her personality and live prowess, she has all the traits of a keeper.
CONCERT
Lianne La Havas, Eurosonic, Forum Images, january 12th 2012
MUSIC
The British La Havas has both Greek and Jamaïcan heritage. Her musical blueprint is especially diverse. Walking on steep elevator shoes and wearing a Victorian Harajuku dress, she uses jazz, rock-'n-roll, purist pop and groany nu-soul as stepping stones. Last fall her first EP, "Lost & Found", was released. This record contains a magnificent duet with folk champion Willy Mason. Her first full length should see the light of day earlier this year.
PLUS
She evokes an impressive sense of calmness. Unfazed, La Havas walks on stage, grabs her phone and asks the crowd to politely smile for a picture. 'No, one more! Okay, thanks!'. She chats up kindly with the audience, cracks jokes and moves her hips: One-nil for La Havas. Throughout the entire show, the audience remains silent as a mouse, the same way Lucky Fonz III pulls the audiences strings like a puppeteer. Accompanied by her guitar she plays two soul tunes, including the exceptional No Room For Doubt. No Willy Mason here, but nonetheless just as impressive.
After the first two songs, her bandmates, a drummer and a keyboard player, come on stage. She uses them sparingly, maintaining a cosy and domestic stage presence. Just as the show threatens to be subdued by sweetness, the trio emphatically blast into rock-'n-roll frenzy. With raunchous, hammering Rhodes keys and sturdy guitar blitz, they shape a valiant Motown-like aesthetic, without becoming kitsch. The set closes with a fifties jazz tune and an archetypical Adéle-ballad. La Havas certainly is a jacqueline-of-all-trades.
MINUS
Impressive how La Havas injects suspense within the Norah Jones' livingroom-soulmuzak template. But near the end, the gig plunges a big too long into the pink. More of those fiery, strained vocals, sketchy lyrics and crude guitars would be nice.
CONCLUSION
It's impossible to reference La Havas without mentioning Rox as well. Who? The British would be sensation of 2010. Like La Havas, a young, petite and multi-talented artist with multiple roots (in Rox' case Jamaican and Iranian). She too is breathtakingly gorgeous and is equally adept at sessions and full-fledged live shows. But in Rox' case, the record was a bit of a let down. "Memoirs" lacked consistency and felt a bit fabricated. In La Havas' case, you can sense a genuineness in her songs. The EP is already a success, and the full length could turn out equally impressive. Might as well shoo Lianne La Havas in for London Calling, North Sea Jazz, perhaps even Lowlands or Pitch. Because this really goes way beyond just hype.
GRADE
8+
Read the review on the 3voor12 website here
Photo by Ben Houdijk
