July 28--Lianne La Havas, a Prince-endorsed U.K. singer and songwriter with an acclaimed debut album to her credit, wants more on "Blood" (Warner).
She frames her latest release as an exploration of her Jamaican-Greek heritage, with a slicker, bigger sound. It marks a distinct departure from the low-key, acoustic approach of her 2012 debut, "Is Your Love Big Enough?"
At times, the album wears its mainstream ambitions too transparently. Backing vocals give the jaunty "What You Don't Do" a pop sugar buzz that erases most of La Havas' distinctiveness as a vocalist and songwriter. She's better off when revisiting the delicate textures of her debut in the contemplative "Ghost" and "Good Goodbye." But most of the tracks fall between those poles, with ho-hum results.
The arrangements strive for greater dynamic range: wind chimes, horns, finger snaps, bubbling bass lines, undulating acoustic guitars, electric outbursts. "Never Get Enough" seesaws between gossamer verses and distortion-heavy choruses. The refrains on this album are rarely underplayed. La Havas belts them out: "We are unstoppable," "Turn up the love as we grow," "I'll never get enough of you."
Yet despite the album title's reference to family bloodlines, it all sounds strangely bloodless. Rather than a personal statement, the music becomes an exercise in smoothness. Even La Havas' vocal power plays don't translate as an emotional imperative so much as a pop formula.
Lianne La Havas
"Blood"
2 stars
greg@gregkot.com
