Lianne La Havas

English singer/songwriter and guitarist Lianne La Havas surfaced at the start of the 2010s with a restrained, largely acoustic blend of alternative folk and soul. Drawing from Lauryn Hill and Nina Simone, she achieved an early breakthrough when her debut album Is Your Love Big Enough? climbed to number five on the U.K. chart and secured a nomination in the BBC Sound of 2012 poll. She later sharpened her evolving sound on the 2015 release Blood, a number-two U.K. success that earned a Grammy nomination, and again on her self-titled third album in 2020.

Born in London to a Jamaican mother and Greek father, La Havas first performed as part of the short-lived Paris Parade alongside Christian Pinchbeck, who later joined Elephant. She soon moved to solo work, issuing the four-track EP Lost & Found in October 2011; the set featured a duet with Willy Mason. That December, while she was supporting Bon Iver on a North American tour, organizers revealed her BBC Sound of 2012 nomination. Her full-length debut for Warner Bros. arrived in the U.K. the following July and reached number five, with the Nonesuch edition appearing in the U.S. one month later. Songwriting partner Matt Hales, known as Aqualung, handled nearly all production duties. Prince became an admirer and invited her to appear on his 2014 album Art Official Age; around the same period she also recorded with Alt-J and Tourist.

Her second album, Blood, emerged in 2015 as a more expansive and polished statement shaped by a visit to Jamaica and by her Greek roots. The project was introduced through the singles “Unstoppable” and “What You Won’t Do.” It debuted at number two on the U.K. chart and received a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album. After a lengthy hiatus, La Havas issued several new tracks in early 2020 that paved the way for her self-titled third album that July. Written and tracked in the wake of a breakup, the record again featured Hales as her chief collaborator, with additional contributions from Beni Giles, Mura Masa, and Nick Hakim, and included her interpretation of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes.”