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Beautiful. Elegant. Classy. Three words that describe perfectly both Laura Mvula, and her music.
As the Mercury nominated artist treated a packed room of people to her new as yet unreleased album ‘The Dreaming Room’ in full, alongside a select few tracks from her 2013 album Sing to the Moon at Manchester’s Gorilla she proved so gracefully what a class act she is.
With a set packed full of moments either so delicate you could hear a pin drop as they were delivered, or disjointed and off-kilter, full of emotion, songs of heartbreak she completely captivated from start to finish.
(Side note: Who in their right minds would break Laura Mvula’s heart – she seems such a lovely person. They must need their heads testing)
The former primary school teacher’s natural self-effacing Brummie charm made her between song tales, including a wonderful story about how she’d completely forgotten about her fear of all things cold or wet right up until the moment she was ‘allegedly’ dunked into the drink whilst filming her new video for Show me Love in the freezing cold sea in Folkestone extremely funny as well.
Whether backed up by her 7-piece band – a family affair with brother and sister sharing the stage – or stood alone, just her and her ‘ironing board’ (a keytar named Nina) delivering something as sparse and impactful as Father Father, the whole night was truly mesmerising.
A highlight was the Manchester crowd sounding as angelic as her backing singers as they sang ‘You can’t live with the world on your shoulders’ back to Laura who seemed visibly moved by the moment.
Every track played was an intricate piece in it’s own right with it’s own inherent beauty, that sharply contrasted against the harsh industrial chic feel of the venue with it’s back wall of iron oven doors providing the backdrop.
The new album sounds incredible in a live setting and when it gets a physical release on June 17th it will no doubt massively raise the profile of this phenomenal woman.