Lianne La Havas Announces Fall North American Tour; Preview Shows in July in New Orleans, NYC, and LA; New album Blood Due July 31 on Nonesuch/Warner Bros. Records in US

Lianne La Havas Announces Fall North American Tour;

Preview Shows in July in New Orleans, NYC, and LA

New album Blood Due July 31 on Nonesuch/Warner Bros. Records in US

“A new and electrifying voice.” -NPR

“An acoustic folk-rock-soul sound that is unique, and what’s best is that heavy voice of hers: This London singer sounds like she’s singing straight to your soul.” -Associated Press

English singer/songwriter/guitarist Lianne La Havas’ second album, Blood, will be released by Nonesuch/Warner Bros Records in the US on July 31. La Havas’ 2012 debut album Is Your Love Big Enough? won Album of the Year at iTunes UK as well as Barclaycard Mercury Prize and Ivor Novello Best Album nominations, along with tremendous critical acclaim. The Blood track “Unstoppable” is available as an instant download for those who pre-order the album via iTunes or nonesuch.com; a video for the song, which the Times (UK) called “a piece of soaring soul that recalls Jill Scott at her most transcendent,” may be viewed here. The album’s second single, “What You Don’t Do,” debuted yesterday and is also included as an instant download with pre-orders; a video for it may be seen here.

In anticipation of the new album, La Havas plays the Essence Festival in New Orleans on July 5 plus a pair of intimate evenings in Los Angeles and New York, July 7 at the Troubadour and July 9 at the Bowery Ballroom. She returns to North America in September and October for a 23-city tour, with stops in Washington, DC; Chicago; and San Francisco, among others (details below). Tickets for the fall shows go on sale Friday, June 26, at liannelahavas.com and include a digital download of Blood in its entirety using a code sent by email on July 31. Additionally, a limited amount of Exclusive VIP Packages that include a ticket to the show, custom merchandise items, and priority entry at participating venues are available at liannelahavas.com and Future-Beat.com.

When touring for Is Your Love Big Enough? came to a close, La Havas headed to Jamaica with her mother for a long-awaited holiday that evolved into an experience of self-discovery. She enjoyed emotional reunions with long-lost relatives; embraced Kingston’s clubs; and even jammed in front of her family for the first time during a session with legendary dancehall/reggae producer Stephen McGregor. Exploring her roots inspired La Havas’ writing. Lyrically, she says, the songs she wrote are almost all related to “the feeling of who you are and where you come from.” And musically, La Havas took inspiration from Jamaica’s love of grooves, rhythms, and syncopation.

McGregor ultimately joined in the making of Blood along with a rich collection of others. Produced by Adele/FKA twigs collaborator Paul Epworth and built upon an instrumental recording by Ninja Tunes trio The Invisible, the first single “Unstoppable” is a song that Lianne wrote to help to repair a relationship that she had ended.

Lianne La Havas’s debut Is Your Love Big Enough? provided more highlights in its life-cycle than many artists experience in their entire career. The Los Angeles Times said, “With ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?,’ Miss La Havas vaults right to the big leagues. Repeated listenings only prove how strong and artful this collection is,” and the New York Times praised her “voice that hints at Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse and Erykah Badu but is fully her own…” That album led to a journey that encompassed more than 120 shows across Europe, North America, and Japan-including two sold-out London shows at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

La Havas has recently made a succession of guest appearances: a heady weekend of recording with Prince at Paisley Park for his new Art Official Age album; another recording with Matt Hales on recent Aqualung track “Egg Shells”; guest vocal on Alt-J’s “Warm Foothills” and Tourist’s “Patterns.”

Lianne La Havas

Blood

1.Unstoppable

2.Green and Gold

3.What You Don’t Do

4.Tokyo

5.Wonderful

6.Midnight

7.Grow

8.Ghost

9.Never Get Enough

10. Good Goodbye