NO ROOM FOR DOUBT
Finally. I was thìs close to start thinking I lost touch with my own game. Behold, for this is my very first artist for 2012 captured on Polaroid, and the stunner here on Polaroid is not just anybody… The beautiful songbird you can all admire here above is one of the artists listed on the BBC’s renowned Sound For 2012 artists poll.
So, with no further ado, allow me to introduce you to LIANNA LA HAVAS.
Lianne is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born and raised in London and has 2 consecutive EP’s written to her name, one called LOST AND FOUND and another EP carrying the name LIVE IN LA. The first time I ever heard Lianne La Havas was not very long ago, a few months maybe, when I heard SHLOMO’S terrific remix from Lianne La Havas ‘FORGET’ track. When I heard her singing the lyrics; “Waste all your time writing love songs, but you don’t love me.” in that hypnotizing Shlomo track I was smitten. A few weeks more passed, the Shlomo remix became a daily replay on my way to work and I sort of forgot that I had to check out Lianne her work when I stumbled over the following image on Tumblr:
I see. So this was the girl who was singing on that SHLOMO track? Interesting. This cover definitely drew my attention to listen to the EP ‘LIVE IN LA’ and that was basically enough to fall in love with her music and start surfing the web for more Lianne. Here are a few of my favorite Lianne tracks:
AGE: A sweet song about being in love with an older man, performed at LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND.
In this video for NO ROOM FOR DOUBT the song is set in the very appropriate location that is Montmartre, Paris. Also check out the song FORGET and definitely take your time to listen to this live version of Forget as well.
Can’t leave out this amazing JILL SCOTT cover.
I really love Lianne. I like her quirky, girly yet bold style, she looks like a fairytale creature that came straight out of a modern day Peter Pan story. You’re bound to love her.
Her colorful voice works like a light breeze in a very warm summer on me. It’s calming and it makes me reminisce about me the type of singers you had in the old days, elegantly staged next to a piano standing in one of those classy dark jazz bars where business men come to drink whiskey, smoke cigars in mahogany Chesterfields and forget the clouds that are hanging above their middle-aged heads by listening to a soothing, warm yet slightly sad voice.
This video portrays that vibe very well.
Anyway…Not much later I found out that she was playing in my favorite venue in Brussels, the Ancienne Belgique, for the very economic prize of 12€, so I thought by myself that I would be a complete fool not to check her out before she hits us with those 45€ tickets. And so it happened. I arrived in Brussels after a very stressful day at work, which made me somewhat tensed and I was honestly hoping that Lianne would sing my tension away. But first it was up to MARQUES TOLIVER an American singer, songwriter and violin player, to both impress and confuse the crowd waiting for Lianne with his very interesting performance. I’m still not sure where to put this young man but the boy can sing that’s for sure!
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Shortly after, Lianne entered the stage with her all male band (good looking chaps btw) and blew away the crowd with an intimate and compelling performance.
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Now let’s get to the part of the story behind the Polaroid.
Because of my hectic work schedule lately, I didn’t really have the time to prepare this story in a proper way. The only thing I managed to do was send an email to the Ancienne Belgique with the question who I should contact if I would want a 1 to 1 with Lianne La Havas for a Polaroid. I quickly received an answer back, telling me that if it is just a Polaroid picture I might have the chance to ask Lianne myself when she is around the merchandise booth after the concert. For some reason I had my doubts about that, I didn’t think an artist of her caliber would still do merchandise appearances, then again it could be possible since she was booked in the smaller AB CLUB venue, that is mostly used to introduce debuting artist to a smaller crowd, but it turned out that my doubts weren’t necessary because after a quick break and a wardrobe change into more comfy clothes, Lianne popped up back on stage and went straight to the merchandise booth to take some pictures with fans and greet some familiar faces. So this was my chance.
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I was able to snatch Lianne away for a minute and ask her if she would want to pose for my Polaroid camera. She told me she absolutely l oved Polaroids and that it would be a pleasure. I proposed to take the picture against a white wall and asked her to follow me away from the venue and into to the little hall area where all the coats were hanging because that was the only spot nearby where I could find a white wall. She obliged and I quickly showed her some of the artists that I’ve captured on Polaroid so far and asked her to give me two different poses.
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After that is was showtime! I aimed my camera, and… 3..2..1…flashing lights…bingo!
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Hanging those very few moments with her, you could tell that Lianne is a fun-loving girl, you know the type of woman you can cruise a couple of bars with but also hang with on a lazy sunday afternoon watching old movies. Did that make any sense? Oh well. So that was basically it…!
Lianne La Havas is currently working on her debut album called ‘IS YOUR LOVE BIG ENOUGH’. Time will tell if there is enough love in the world for Lianne but with that melancholic and timeless voice of hers, she leaves no room for doubt that she is here to stay…
Love,
OUNI