Lianne La Havas made a huge breakthrough with her Top 5 debut album ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’ which sold 200,000 copies and won Album of the Year at iTunes as well as Barclaycard Mercury Prize and Ivor Novello Best Album nominations. Now the 25-year-old London-based singer-songwriter will release her eagerly anticipated new album ‘Blood’ on July 31st on Warner Bros. Records.
‘Blood’ is an album that was inspired by Lianne’s family heritage, which is part Jamaican and part Greek. Once touring for her debut album came to a close, she headed to Jamaica with her mother for a holiday which evolved into an experience of self-discovery. Lianne enjoyed emotional reunions with long-lost relatives; embraced Kingston’s clubs; and even jammed in front of her family for the first time during a session with legendary dancehall / reggae producer Stephen McGregor.
Discovering her heritage inspired Lianne to reflect on the connections between now and then, which in turn sparked the songs which would become her future. Simply, “everything seemed to have a lot more clarity, and I really wanted to speak about it.”
Lyrically, the songs that feature on the album are almost all related to “the feeling of who you are and where you come from.” Sonically, ‘Blood’ is a collection that shakes, shimmies and swings with Jamaican grooves with Lianne taking inspiration from the nation’s love of grooves, rhythms and syncopation.
In addition to Stephen McGregor, ‘Blood’ features a rich collection of collaborators. Produced and co-written by Adele / FKA twigs collaborator Paul Epworth, and founded upon an instrumental recording by Ninja Tunes trio The Invisible, the first single ‘Unstoppable’ is a song that Lianne wrote to help to repair a relationship that she had ended.
Set to impact on June 1st, ‘Unstoppable’ will also be available from the evening of April 21st as an instant grat track for those who pre-order the album.
Lianne will build towards the launch of ‘Blood’ with a special international run of intimate album preview shows. The tour begins at the Komedia in Brighton on May 18th before heading to London’s historic Wilton’s Music Hall on May 19th, the People’s Palace in Amsterdam on May 27th and Berlin’s Gruner Salon on May 28th. Tickets and further information will be available at www.liannelahavas.com.
Further live shows will follow throughout with the summer with two huge outdoor shows in Swansea and Manchester as special guest to Paolo Nutini. Her summer festival appearances commence with Glastonbury, and will be followed by the philosophy and music event How The Light Gets In as well as Latitude, Gentlemen of the Road (curated by Mumford & Sons) and Bestival.
Lianne’s upcoming tour schedule runs as below:
May
18th – Brighton, Komedia (headline) 19th – London, Wilton’s Music Hall (headline) 24th – Paris, Afropunk Festival 27th – Amsterdam, People’s Palace (headline) 28th – Berlin, Gruner Salon (headline) 30th – Ross-on-Wye, How The Light Gets In Festival
June
20th – Swansea, Singleton Park (guest to Paolo Nutini) 24th-28th - Glastonbury
July
2nd – Manchester, Summer in the City (guest to Paolo Nutini) 12th – Rotterdam, North Sea Jazz Festival 18th – Latitude Festival 20th – Lucerne, Blue Balls Festival
