Laura Mvula is one of those rare artists who come along from time to time with a refreshingly original sound. She has a unique and instantly recognisable voice and style, first gifted to the world through her début album, Sing to the Moon, which narrowly missed out to James Blake for the 2013 Mercury Music Prize, although she was the bookies favourite. Mixing choral gospel voices, soul and jazz with more classical elements and a distinctly electronic production style, she has carved a niche for herself with her beautiful, melancholic music for the soul. In a recent interview Mvula bravely revealed all, giving us a real insight to the trials and tribulations that have been affecting her during recent years, marking her second album The Dreaming Room as a real personal triumph, beyond it's obvious musical achievements. Its rare for someone in the public eye to speak so openly and honestly about debilitating conditions such as the acute anxiety and depression that have plagued her since her parents divorce in her mid 20s, defying the expectations and conventions of the deeply religious community she was raised in. I applaud her for shining a light on something that many people struggle with in silence.

Being thrust into the limelight so suddenly whilst dealing with these problems must have been difficult after her début was released, but it seems in the last 18 months, work on this second album had become a near impossibility, she divorced from her husband of seven years and was plagued by such strong anxiety attacks she could not be in a room on her own – making writing a real difficulty. It's hard to listen to the second single 'Phenomenal Woman' which closes the album and picture the same Laura Mvula frozen by panic attacks, but that is the very power of this second record. Edgier, groovier, darker and in some ways more intense than her début, The Dreaming Room, it’s an empowering record. Inspired by a Maya Angelou poem with the same title, 'Phenomenal Woman' talks about a woman who realises her beauty and triumphs against adversities to metaphorically fly – it's not much of a stretch to imagine Mvula is singing about herself, rising above her problems to turn in, in her own words, “a beast of an album” and this, with its dark bass-line and euphoric chorus is a stand-out example of what she has accomplished.

Lead single, 'Overcome', which features the unmistakable funky guitar chops of Nile Rodgers, continues the theme of not just surviving but flourishing despite our problems, as Mvula sings “When your head is heavy, low/And the tears they keep falling/Take your broken feet and run”. This song has choral gospel voices at its core, deeply layered harmonies that become like a synth pad, a motif Mvula uses throughout the record. The melody these background vocals follow makes some unusual choices for pop, or even jazz music, as there are resolutions that sound like they're lifted straight from an old hymn, which creates a strange tension in this context and is another approach she recalls throughout the album, notably at the end of 'Lucky Man', unifying processes like these almost give this record the feel of a concept album. The filtered background sounds and broken drum beat of 'Bread' reminds me, weirdly, of the tonal qualities of Vampire Weekend's last record, Modern Vampires of the City. There is a real embracing of what electronics can do to transform sound, weirdly over-perfect vocal harmonies, beautiful strings contrasted with a sharply percussive sound. Mid-album highlight 'Let Me Fall' has a bright synth line underpinned by shifting off-beat chords and a driving, skipping rhythm which all coalesces around repeated counter-point melodies that work into a hypnotic trance-like refrain: “No looking back when hope is pushing forward/Hand in the sky will lead us out of the darkness”.

'Kiss My Feet' has the most beautiful xylophone melody, which I can already imagine being used for some utilities advertising campaign. As a major player on the Sony roster writing such affective parts Mvula will have a hard time turning down such commissions, but advertising has become a big part of the successful musician's bread-and-butter income these days, I'm just hoping over-use doesn't taint the genuine emotion found here. It's one of the most beautiful songs on the album, with its chorus of “I've been waiting for you/I've been lost without you/I've been praying for someone like you” – but, what's perhaps not immediately apparent on first listen, is how unconventional the arrangement is, how different the sections of the song are and how skilfully they roll from one mood to the other. There's also a real darkness at play, despite the upbeat optimism of the lyrics, that betrays the desperation behind the sentiment. 'Angel' is another moment that shows off Mvula's incredible skill for composition, proceeded by the short orchestral instrumental 'Renaissance Moon'. The song starts with a capella voices singing at an extremely unusual harmonic interval, one soaked in digital effects. Its verses possess a strange melody that weaves its way around what sounds like all the notes, taking us off on strange tangents, while a synth-sitar plucks a bluesy Beatlesy pattern in the background. This all leads to one of those repeating melodic codas Mvula does so well while what sounds like a synth-harpsichord playing a beautifully flowing arpeggio fades off in the distance.

'People' is another strong track from a highly consistent album, released as a single back in April. This song features a high contrast between tension-filled verses, with dark brooding lyrics and later a rap from former Grime MC Wretch 32, and a sombre but uplifting chorus about the glorious light within every person. Again it continues that theme, of triumph against adversity, that whilst people seem to be constrained by their origins in life, they all have this light, this potential. However, it would be a mistake to think that Mvula has over-laboured this point, or to think that she is without humour. 'Nan' is a great example of her openness and wit, as she surprises us all when the penultimate track on the album is just a recording of a telephone conversation with her Nan, who asks her about how her music is going, reminds her to think of god and her prayers before asking her to “write a song I can lift me spirits, write a song I can jig me foot”. Really it's the perfect introduction to the aforementioned album closer 'Phenomenal Woman'. We get the intensity of the spiritual connection, we get that desire to have music that will raise us out of darkness and ultimately we're reminded that it's all for fun, to get up and dance and lose yourself in that infectious groove. With this second record, and all that it represents, Laura Mvula has shown us that she truly is a phenomenal woman. This is a deep, dark, brooding masterpiece of an album but it is also certainly transcendent, joyful and indeed triumphant.
Adam Kidd

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