Lost and Found

Wow, what a talent. So impressed with Lianne's performance on the Jools Holland show that I purchased this cd. It is absolutely stunning, such vocal dexterity. Can't wait to see what comes next...

Oh the wonders of youth. Lianne La Havas is a 22 year singer and multi instrumentalist from London who we are told has a background that draws equally from Jamaica and Greece. She is one of those singers who oozes confidence and ease and her recent sassy appearance on Jools Holland (please check it out) led one of the main acts Bon Iver to offer her a support slot on his European tour, but more importantly captivated all who witnessed it. There has been the odd accusation that she is the new "Corrine Bailey Rae" however that does both singers a great disservice not least since Ms Rae continues to develop brilliantly and that Ms La Havas is very much her own artist. Those with a penchant for these things will have noted well before the "Later" appearance the various performances of La Havas with the third track on the EP "Age" on the video site Black Cab Sessions and also "No Room for Doubt" on La Blogothèque. Clearly she is not influence free and on this excellent short EP you can pick up a touch of the dearly departed Amy Winehouse circa her debut album "Frank" where the La Havas song "Age" ploughs that relationship furrow that Winehouse nailed on her debut. La Havas is however smart enough to cast her influences more widely than this with the jazzy cover of the wonderful Everything Everything's "Final form" showing her firmly in the tradition of soul singers like Lauren Hill or Erykah Badu.

The sparkling highlight here is the EPs centrepiece track "Lost and Found". This is slow burning uber classy soul ballad which will give Alicia Keys sleepless nights when she hears it. Yes its that good and the vocal by La Havas screams maturity and inner depth. Equally the slowly strummed opener "No room for doubt" which is a captivating duet with the American folk singer Willy Mason is a little polished diamond with its gentle refrain of "We all make mistakes we do, I learn from you" echoing well beyond the songs final notes. Finally the deep sultry soul of "Night school" proves that La Havas has it within her to develop into a star who could capture audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and could be a one women catapult for our flagging export trade. You may also wish to note that a sign up to La Havas website will also unlock another gift namely her free EP "Live in LA".

For any new singer standing in the footsteps of the never-ending pool of great female musical talent of previous and current generations is massively daunting and it appears from a recent interview with the Observer that La Havas did suffer a crisis of confidence. As she stated "Before, I felt like an impostor; I didn't feel I had my own style. I've always had this identity thing ...Now I feel certain about what I like and what I do and it's such a relief." The latter fact is confirmed in spades on "Lost and Found" and we should be thankful that the doubts were expelled because in the shape of Lianne La Havas emerges a very special talent.

Having seen her live and bought all of her releases, (and love her voice), I was disappointed in the way her album has been over-engineered. For instance, "Au cinema" as an accoustic track is outstanding on the EP, but I was disappointed with its' production on the album - I will keep on supporting her however!