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Lianne La Havas is touching on debut

Lianne La Havas
“Is Your Love Big Enough?”
(Nonesuch Records)

“You broke me, and taught me to truly hate myself,” Lianne La Havas sings on the airy song “Lost & Found.” “Unfold me, and teach me how to be like somebody else.”

It’s a particularly dark and heavy hook, leaving the listener to wonder what kind of relationship the singer had been in. But La Havas, the 22-year-old London newcomer, takes the song to even greater heights thanks her husky vocals, which makes “Lost & Found” not just amazing, but earth-shattering.

And there are more stunning songs like it on her debut album, “Is Your Love Big Enough?”

The piano tune “Gone” is another highlight, where La Havas is over love, singing lyrics like: “I heard enough fairytales back in my youth, so just stop biting your nails and take the painful truth, you just look ridiculous in disguise, yes I‘ve found you out, this is my last goodbye.”

On the album opener “Don’t Wake Me Up,” with its layered vocals, La Havas sounds like a mad woman singing about her “only love” and “only counterpart.” Then there’s the line: “They say some things are better left unsaid, but I’d take my life to stay in your bed.”

Lyrics like that stand out throughout her outstanding debut, finding their way into songs that blend elements of pop, soul and folk. La Havas is singing about the many facets of love: On most songs she‘s cooing about lost love, sounding scorned, or ready to move on. But on others she’s happy, like the pleasant “Au Cinema” and “Age,” a tune about falling for a man “old enough to be my father.”

La Havas wrote or co-wrote all of the songs with the exception of the Scott Matthews cover “Elusive.” Matt Hales, the English singer-songwriter who performs his own songs under the alias Aqualung, co-wrote eight of the 12 tracks and produced the entire album.

What they have crafted is not just one of the year’s best debuts, but one of the year’s best albums.
(AP)


Sixpence shows little growth on new album

Sixpence None the Richer
“Lost in Transition”
(Tyger Jim Records)

Matt Slocum, co-founder and guitarist of Sixpence None the Richer, says the group has fully changed since they broke up in 2004 and reunited three years after. But that doesn’t reveal itself as a metamorphosis in the songs on their new album, “Lost in Transition.”

After the split, Sixpence released an EP and a Christmas album, but they officially return with their first full-length album, delivering a familiar sound while not daring to break into any new territory.

The album opener, “My Dear Machine,” is a decent track, with some fine and fuzzy guitar work highlighted by lead singer Leigh Nash’s smooth and strong voice. Unfortunately, the song gets overpowered by horns near the end.

After this somewhat strong start, the Nashville, Tenn.-based band runs into an inevitable truth for most ’90s-era bands looking for a renaissance. Hits are hard. And their yesteryear radio staples like “Kiss Me” and “There She Goes” are tough to replicate for the listener’s sweet spot. New tracks like “Failure” and “Give It Back” are musically passable, but are ultimately wordy misfires that tell us nothing of the transformative time that is allegedly the underpinning of this album.
(AP)

Elle Varner’s debut disc is R&B gold

Elle Varner
“Perfectly Imperfect”
(RCA Records)

Elle Varner’s debut album is titled, “Perfectly Imperfect,” but she should have called it “Perfect.” The newcomer’s 11-track set is pure excellence, full of R&B gems that are silky, smooth and jamming.

Her voice -- raspy at times, soft at others -- is the focal point of the album as it glides over songs and adapts to the different beats, which include hip-hop (“Only Wanna Give It to You,” “I Don’t Care”), funk-soul (”So Fly”) and contemporary R&B (“Welcome Home”).

“Stop the Clock” is flavorful and addictive, thanks to its dramatic beat and the sound of handclapping dominating the chorus. “Refill,” a Top 10 R&B hit, is velvety and could easily be a TV jingle.

Producers Oak & Pop, best known for their work on Nicki Minaj’s “Your Love” and Big Sean’s “Marvin and Chardonnay,” helm most of the songs, though Varner’s father, Jimmy Varner, co-writes and produces some of the tracks, and her mother, Mikelyn Roderick, works as a vocal producer and background singer. Varner, a graduate of Clive Davis’ music school at New York University, co-wrote each song, and she’s got a skill with the pen.

On “Not Tonight,” the twenty something is magically vulnerable, singing about being too scared to approach a man she’s interested in. She starts off slow, building her vocals and words, and it makes for a touching track. She’s also exposed on “So Fly,” a perky outtake about being insecure about her weight and image. On the song, the big-haired, hipster-looking Varner -- in a beautiful tone -- asks: “How can I ever compete with 34 Double D’s?”
With that voice, and with this album.

(AP)