Lianne La Havas's new album, Blood, is out this Friday, July 31. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full all this week in the US as an NPR First Listen. Her 2012 debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, was "wonderfully refreshing," says NPR's Tom Moon. And on the new album, she's created songs like the single "What You Don't Do," which features "the kind of stunning, kinetic performance we rarely hear on the radio these days." Blood showcases an eclectic range of songs and moods, and it's "unusual to hear a singer so confident in her ability to bring the extremes (particularly the quiet ones) across so vividly."
Lianne La Havas's new album, Blood, is out this Friday, July 31, on Nonesuch Records in the United States. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full all this week in the US as an NPR First Listen at npr.org.
La Havas's 2012 debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, was "wonderfully refreshing," says NPR's Tom Moon. And on the new album, she's created songs like the single "What You Don't Do," which features "the kind of stunning, kinetic performance we rarely hear on the radio these days."
Blood showcases an eclectic range of songs, providing a "dramatic contrast" from song to song. Its "transitions lend unexpected dimension to La Havas' writing—they make the songs, which survey romantic relationships in various states of messiness, feel epic even though most just last around four minutes," Moon concludes. "It's unusual to encounter such roller-coastering mood swings—the becalmed poise of Minnie Ripperton giving way to the fulminating power of Nina Simone—in this realm, where digital perfection is the norm and the peaks and spikes get smoothed over. It's even more unusual to hear a singer so confident in her ability to bring the extremes (particularly the quiet ones) across so vividly."
Tickets to Lianne La Havas's North American fall tour are on sale now at nonesuch.com/on-tour and include a download of the new album available starting release day.
Read more and listen to the complete album, streaming now at npr.org.
To pre-order Blood and download the first three tracks—"Unstoppable," "Green and Gold," and "What You Don't Do"—head to iTunes or the Nonesuch Store now, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album available starting release day. You can also hear "Green and Gold," the latest song to be released, below.
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