Laura Mvula

Laura Mvula 
She
has been garnering plenty of adoring reviews across the pond. Even before her debut album Sing to the Moon was released in Britain, she was shortlisted for the prestigious Critics Choice Award at the 2013 BRIT awards. Since the album was released, Mvula’s bright-hued retro-soul has been praised to the heavens for originality while simultaneously being compared to the luminary likes of Nina Simone and David Axelrod. Much of the praise is richly deserved. Sing to the Moon, which was just released here in the States, is a triumph of arrangement and melody: Songs like opener “Like the Morning Dew”, or the gorgeous title track, combine earworm hooks with beautiful, uniquely shaped verses, and showcase the open-hearted faith in the world that is clearly Mvula’s
calling card. Even when her lyrics communicate melancholy, it seems the singer has no choice but to sound defiantly anti-blue.