Laura Mvula
Laura Mvula is a classically trained vocalist with an orchestral pop style all her own. She’s often compared to other neo-soul artists, both those who shared her classical training, like Amy Winehouse, and those who don’t, like Jill Scott. The shoe that fits best doesn’t quite fit anyone: Mvula shares considerable DNA with Nina Simone, most obviously in her unyielding charisma, her musical virtuosity, and her profoundly central blackness. Mvula’s voice also shares some of Simone’s rawness, as well as its facility juxtaposing vulnerability and strength. She can sound supernaturally powerful, as on the wailed hook from Green Garden, off her first album, 2013’s Sing to the Moon; at other times she softens into nursery melodies, sung over a twinkle.
Über Laura Mvula
Laura Mvula is a classically trained vocalist with an orchestral pop style all her own. She’s often compared to other neo-soul artists, both those who shared her classical training, like Amy Winehouse, and those who don’t, like Jill Scott. The shoe that fits best doesn’t quite fit anyone: Mvula shares considerable DNA with Nina Simone, most obviously in her unyielding charisma, her musical virtuosity, and her profoundly central blackness. Mvula’s voice also shares some of Simone’s rawness, as well as its facility juxtaposing vulnerability and strength. She can sound supernaturally powerful, as on the wailed hook from Green Garden, off her first album, 2013’s Sing to the Moon; at other times she softens into nursery melodies, sung over a twinkle.