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Lianne La Havas grew up with a Greek father and Jamaican mother in London. Her first album, “Is Your Love Big Enough,” explored folk music, R&B and rock and roll — and was named “Album of the Year” in 2012 by iTunes.
For her latest album, “Blood,” she teamed up with Jamaican producer Stephen McGregor to expand her sound and explore her roots. It earned her a Grammy nomination for “Best Urban Contemporary Album.”
The Frame’s James Kim spoke with La Havas about what inspired the deeply personal album.
This album is much more confident than "Is Your Love Big Enough?" Would you describe yourself as a confident person?
I absolutely think that this album represents a newfound confidence and a freedom in my music that perhaps I haven't discovered yet, which I guess has always been there, but you just have to go to the right place. It just has to be the right time for it to come out.
When were you first inspired to write your album "Blood?"
I was on vacation in Jamaica with my lovely mom and while I was out there, I had the opportunity to work with a producer from Jamaica called Stephen McGregor who is most known for his dancehall productions. So I took two days out of my holiday and went to Kingston with mother and my two cousins, and I actually remember saying to Stephen, "Is it okay if my mom's here?" And he was like, "It's totally fine."
He drove us all to the studio and I remember sitting down and he gave me a guitar and I remember feeling completely at home suddenly, and it was also the first time my mother had seen what I really do. The song that came to the forefront, which actually is about that confidence and freedom, is called "Midnight."
What was the songwriting process with "Midnight" and how did it come together?
I walked into the room the first day of the session and Stephen was playing a beat and it was insanely groovy, and then when the bed was made, I just started hearing what later went on to become the chorus melody. Then I looked at Stephen and he was pointing at me like, "Yeah, this is it! This is it!"
What kind of household did you grow up in?
I grew up in a completely Jamaican household and I just found myself always surrounded by aunties and I had a couple of cousins at the time. Now I have 13 first cousins, and that was my childhood. I grew up surrounded by Jamaicans, surrounded by the food but all of this in south London. So I ended up with this accent that I have, but that was my childhood, and in the song "Green & Gold," I tried to describe my childhood.
There's a lyric in the song "Green & Gold" where you talk about looking into a mirror and discovering yourself.
That was all true in the lyric, it's all literal. There was a mirror in the hallway in my grandparents' house where you could see the mirror opposite in the room. So I remember the first time looking into mirrors that are opposite of each other and you see infinity, and also looking at my face thinking is that me or is that someone else?
Why did you decide to write about your childhood on this album instead of your debut?
When I went to Jamaica with my mom, I guess that allowed me to really look at my family and look at my life. You know, I was 24 at the time, becoming a woman and all I wanted to talk about what was within my heart. Then it turned out not to be so much my boyfriend. It was more of my mom and my dad and my cousins and stuff... and myself.