Laura Mvula brings gospeldelia
One gets startled while listening to BBC Radio and you discover that the name of the artist that is pushing the soul ballads through your radio happens to be Laura Mvula.
In Malawi, Mvulas are associated with the Ngoni tribes either in Ntcheu or Mzimba.
After googling her name, it was discovered that Laura is actually married to Themba Mvula, another musician in the United Kingdom with roots from Zambia.
Rocketing to the Top 10 with her debut album Sing to the moon, Laura Mvula (née Douglas) is an English soul singer-songwriter from Birmingham. Signed to Sony subsidiary RCA, Mvula released her debut extended play, She, on November 16, 2012. Her debut studio album, Sing to the Moon was released on March 4, 2013.
If one listens to her music, you will no doubt known that Mvula is poised for greater things. She has a style of her own which brings in the choir singing background, and her tertiary training in classical contemporary music. She is a golden oldie type of person with a new soul coming out of her which gives her a unique style to all she does.
Her outlook is so simple and yet her music is sophisticated.
According to mtv.com, Mvula grew up in the Birmingham suburbs of Selly Park and Kings Heath with two younger siblings, and was influenced by the girl band Eternal. She sang with Black Voices, an accapella group set up by her aunt.
She graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire with a degree in composition. While she was working as a supply teacher in a Birmingham secondary school, she started writing songs on her laptop. She was working as a receptionist when she sent out two demos to several people in the music industry.
One person has described her music using a new term, “gospeldelia”.
The album is preceded by the single “Green Garden”. The song is an elegy to her home in Kings Heath.
On 6 December 2012, Mvula was shortlisted for the Critics’ Choice award at the 2013 BRIT Awards. On 9 December, she was nominated for the BBC’s Sound of 2013 poll, and finished in fourth position. On 1 February 2013, she gave a live TV performance on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One, singing Green Garden. She will support Jessie Ware on her UK tour.
