LIANNE LA HAVAS is one of those rare breeds of superhuman—her voice is just as bright and beautiful as her striking face. After wowing critics and listeners alike with her debut album IS YOUR LOVE BIG ENOUGH? in 2012, fans have come flocking to see the British songstress strum away while melting hearts with her warm, soothing vocals. We caught up with the folk-soul singer after her AFROPUNK FESTIVAL performance and talked her evolving sound, women of color in music, and finishing up her sophomore album... after she celebrates her birthday in NYC, of course.
CHLOE DEWBERRY: How does it feel to be celebrating your birthday while performing at Afropunk Festival this year? It must be nice to have a crowd of fans sing "Happy Birthday" to you!
LIANNE LA HAVAS: Afropunk is a very important event within itself, and I'm absolutely over the moon! I feel lucky enough to just be in New York for my birthday, and to also being doing the thing that I love the most with such amazing people was just a dream come true. I hoped they would love my songs and they seemed to go down okay. [Laughs]
As you mature and get older each year, how does that influence your music? Does it change your sound at all?
I think the sound will just change inherently because as you get older, you kind of just learn what you like, how you work, and how you do things to achieve the best result for you. It's about whatever makes you feel the best honestly. I've been on kind of a journey lately with making this new record and just kind of figuring out exactly how it is that I do what I do. I sort of pinpointed it, and it's all about feeling. As I get older, I only want to feel good and I only want to do things that feel right, and you kind of have to go with your gut feeling, which is what I've been doing.
With independent artists such as yourself getting recognition, the whole scope of women of color in the alternative music scene has really changed. How do you feel that you fit into that mold? Where do you see the future of women of color in alternative music going?
I'll be honest: I hope one day it won't matter what color we are. I know that sounds really cheesy, but I never made music thinking about what color I was. I just sort of did it because I wanted to. Hopefully, people will just do things that they feel they have to. I personally feel that like I had to sing because I loved it. I feel like we'll end up in a really great place if people ignore that par. I’m not saying to ignore your culture because I think culture is very important and I think it's miraculous that we have different foods and styles depending on the part of the planet that we're from, but at the same time we are all human. And I want that to come across most of all, so hopefully in the future we'll just be cool women and cool men with cool music and style.
What kinds of sounds can we expect on your upcoming album?
Well, it's definitely going to be more rhythmically-rooted. I've been working a lot in Jamaica with a producer named Stephen McGregor, the son of a reggae legend named Freddie McGregor, and he's a fantastic producer and artist in his own right. I've also been working with my longtime friend and producer, Matt Hales, who did the first album. I think the combination
As you mature and get older each year, how does that influence your music? Does it change your sound at all?
I think the sound will just change inherently because as you get older, you kind of just learn what you like, how you work, and how you do things to achieve the best result for you. It's about whatever makes you feel the best honestly. I've been on kind of a journey lately with making this new record and just kind of figuring out exactly how it is that I do what I do. I sort of pinpointed it, and it's all about feeling. As I get older, I only want to feel good and I only want to do things that feel right, and you kind of have to go with your gut feeling, which is what I've been doing.
With independent artists such as yourself getting recognition, the whole scope of women of color in the alternative music scene has really changed. How do you feel that you fit into that mold? Where do you see the future of women of color in alternative music going?
I'll be honest: I hope one day it won't matter what color we are. I know that sounds really cheesy, but I never made music thinking about what color I was. I just sort of did it because I wanted to. Hopefully, people will just do things that they feel they have to. I personally feel that like I had to sing because I loved it. I feel like we'll end up in a really great place if people ignore that par. I’m not saying to ignore your culture because I think culture is very important and I think it's miraculous that we have different foods and styles depending on the part of the planet that we're from, but at the same time we are all human. And I want that to come across most of all, so hopefully in the future we'll just be cool women and cool men with cool music and style.
What kinds of sounds can we expect on your upcoming album?
Well, it's definitely going to be more rhythmically-rooted. I've been working a lot in Jamaica with a producer named Stephen McGregor, the son of a reggae legend named Freddie McGregor, and he's a fantastic producer and artist in his own right. I've also been working with my longtime friend and producer, Matt Hales, who did the first album. I think the combination
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