Sing To The Moon - Laura Mvula
Year: 2013
Country:
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Track list:
1. Like The Morning Dew
2. Make Me Lovely
3. Green Garden
4. Can't Live With The World
5. Is There Anybody Out There?
6. Father, Father
7. That's Alright
8. She
9. I Don't Know What The Weather Will Be
10. Sing To The Moon
11. Flying Without You
12. Diamonds
First of all this is a debut, so it has its flaws but it certainly achieves one thing: it makes you keep an open eye for Laura Mvula. This album may sound too glamorous or over-sentimental at times but it's mostly orchestral work (with Soul, Jazz, Opera, R&B all over the place) so live with it. What's more important is that there are some perfect pop songs with ingenious choral and orchestral arrangements all written by the performer herself. So . . . Enjoy!
Unfortunately I didn't get into this one as much as I thought I would. I had heard the single Green Garden before and really liked it. But it seems maybe too much is in this release. What I mean is that a track or two could have been shaved off it and it would have still been good.
Ranked inbetween Iceage's You're Nothing and And So I Watch You From Afar's All Hail Bright Futures.
ALC RANKING:
1. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
2. Som Sakrifis
3. Sub-Verses
4. Sing To The Moon
5. Other Life
6. Infestissumam
7=. The Future Is Cancelled
7=. Partygoing
I don't know why this one has gotten so little attention compared to the other Alc's. This is pretty darn good, despite not being my genre of choice either. I'm gonna pass this on to my friends who are more into the the whole jazzy souly thing. I've been rocking out to the chorus of Like the Morning Dew all day. Solid selection. _________________ "Can't Believe how strange it is to be anything at all"
-Jeff Mangum
It's pretty good, though I can't say it particularly jumped out at me. I think I prefer subtler, more earthy production when it comes to stuff like this, although she does give off a Nina Simone vibe at times, as on 'She'. 'Green Garden' is fun too. This certainly isn't unpleasant, and is probably deserving of more attention on this site than it gets. I prefer it to most of the other ALC picks so far. To anybody who enjoyed this, I highly recommend Andreya Triana's excellent 2010 debut, Lost Where I Belong, which is a record in a similar mold, but with the subtler, more earthy production I mentioned earlier. In fact, it's just a far less flashy record overall, production-wise, lyrically, and vocally. But yeah, I can see myself coming back to Sing To The Moon, and despite a couple of overwrought moments (the tepid title track especially) I can see it growing on me upon further investigation. Nice choice tekin.
Before this was a BEA pick, I listened to it a few times because NPR suggested it, and I trust NPR more than pfork or RS or thequietus, etc. these days. It still feels like soulless soul to me. It's not bad, but it's not good. Worth a listen though, it might strike someone profoundly.
meccaleccaVoice of ReasonProfile The Land of Enchantment
Before this was a BEA pick, I listened to it a few times because NPR suggested it, and I trust NPR more than pfork or RS or thequietus, etc. these days. It still feels like soulless soul to me. It's not bad, but it's not good. Worth a listen though, it might strike someone profoundly.
I definitely see what mean by soulless soul. On Make Me Lovely, she sings "don't want to lose my soul" but there's no conviction in her voice, as though it's already lost.
Musically this album is really wonderfully produced. At times it reminds me of a collaboration between Janelle Monae and Sigur Ros collaborators Amiina. There's lots of bells and whistles. There's a lot of layers.
There are enough strong moments that make this album maybe my favorite pick so far, but I think it's also frustrating because it seems like it's missing the heart that would make it a classic.
Favorite songs: Can't Live With The World, Father, Father _________________ http://jonnyleather.com
meccaleccaVoice of ReasonProfile The Land of Enchantment
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