Laura Mvula

born on 23/4/1987

Laura Mvula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Laura Mvula

Laura Mvula (née Douglas)[1] is a British soul singer-songwriter from Birmingham. Her debut album Sing to the Moon was produced by Steve Brown and released on 4 March 2013.

Early and personal life

Mvula grew up in the Birmingham suburbs of Selly Park and Kings Heath with two younger siblings, and was influenced by the girl band Eternal.[2] In 2005, Mvula sang with Black Voices, an a cappella group set up by her aunt.[2][3] In 2008, she formed a jazz/neo-soul group called Judyshouse, singing lead vocals and writing material for the band.[4] She is also Director of the Lichfield Community Gospel Choir, founded by Black Voices and Lichfield Festival in 2009.[5] She also frequently directs the Alvechurch Community Choir.[6] She graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire with a degree in composition.[7][8] While she was working as a supply teacher in a Birmingham secondary school, she started writing songs on her laptop.[7] She was working as a receptionist when she sent out two demos to several people in the music industry. One of them, Steve Brown, heard the songs and sent them to his manager Kwame Kwaten who would become Laura's manager.[2][8] Laura is married to singer Themba Mvula.[2] In a podcast for The Daily Telegraph, Mvula admitted to suffering from "crippling stage fright".[9]

Career

After several showcases, Laura Mvula was signed by Colin Barlow to Sony subsidiary RCA.[8] She released her debut extended play, She, on 16 November 2012. The title track, "She" is the first song Mvula ever wrote.[10] Her debut studio album, Sing to the Moon, was released on 4 March 2013.[8][11] She worked on the album with producer Steve Brown [12][13] and mix engineer Tom Elmhirst.[14] Paul Lester from The Guardian described her music as "gospeldelia", calling it a new musical genre.[1] The album was preceded by the single "Green Garden".[8] The song is an elegy to her home in Kings Heath.[2] On 6 December 2012, Mvula was shortlisted for the Critics' Choice award at the 2013 BRIT Awards.[15] On 9 December, she was nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2013 poll, and finished in fourth position.[16] On 1 February 2013, she gave her first live TV performance on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One, singing "Green Garden".[17] Mvula stated her influences include Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill.[18]

Sing to the Moon reached number 9 on the UK Albums Chart and within the top 100 in seven other countries and has so far reached 173 in the US Billboard 200 In October 2013, Mvula won awards for best female act and best R&B or soul artist at the 2013 MOBO Awards.[19]

In March 2014, Mvula re-recorded an orchestral version of her debut album, Sing to the Moon, in collaboration with the Metropole Orchestra and Jules Buckley. It will be released in May 2014 as a high quality download via Bowers & Wilkins Society of Sound.[20]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details Peak chart positions
UK
[21]
AUS
[22]
BEL
[23]
DEN
[24]
FR
[25]
IRE
[26]
NL
[27]
NZ
[28]
SWI
[29]
US
[30]
Sing to the Moon
  • Released: 4 March 2013
  • Label: RCA
  • Format: Digital download,
    CD, Deluxe 2-CD
9 33 26 40 93 15 11 16 15 173

Extended plays

Title Details
iTunes Festival: London 2012
  • Released: 16 September 2012
  • Label: RCA
  • Format: Digital EP
She
  • Released: 16 November 2012
  • Label: RCA
  • Format: Digital EP

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
UK
[21]
BEL
[23]
DEN
[24]
IRE
[26]
NL
[27]
2012 "She" Sing to the Moon
2013 "Green Garden" 31 43 40 50 74
"That's Alright" 52
"Sing to the Moon"
"" denotes single that did not chart or was not released.

Promotional singles

Title Year Album
"Like the Morning Dew" 2012 Sing to the Moon

Music videos

List of music videos, showing year released and director
Title Year Director(s)
"Green Garden" 2013 Wendy Morgan
"That's Alright"
"She" Alex Southam

Awards and nominations

Year Organisation Category Result
2013 BRIT Awards Critics' Choice Award[15] Nominated
BBC Sound of 2013[16] Nominated[A]
Barclaycard Mercury Prize (Sing to the Moon)[31] Nominated
MOBO Awards Best Female Act[32] Won
Best R&B/Soul Act Won
Best Album (Sing to the moon) Nominated
Urban Music Awards Artist of the Year[33] Nominated
Best Female Act Won
Best Newcomer Nominated
Q Awards Best New Act[34] Nominated
2014 Brit Awards British Breakthrough Act[35] Nominated
British Female Solo Artist Nominated
NAACP Image Award Outstanding World Music Album[36] Nominated
A^  Fourth Place

Concert tours

  • Sing to the Moon Tour (2013-2014)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lester, Paul, Ones to watch in 2013: Laura Mvula, The Guardian, 31 December 2012. URL accessed on 1 February 2013.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Jones, Alison, Birmingham singer songwriter Laura Mvula singled out to be music's next big star, Birmingham Post, Trinity Mirror, 22 February 2013. URL accessed on 22 February 2013.
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  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Cosyns, Poppy, Brit Awards nominee Laura Mvula: Everythings gone at 110mph, The Sun, News Group Newspapers. URL accessed on 22 February 2013.
  9. Louisa Poocock, "Laura Mvula: 'I still suffer from stage fright. I'm terrified I'll be found out", The Telegraph, 14 March 2013.
  10. Bedian, Knar, Honesty Is Their Policy: PHOX And Laura Mvula, Sound of Boston, 9 April 2014. URL accessed on 10 April 2014.
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  12. Alexis Petridis, "Laura Mvula: Sing to the Moon review", The Guardian, 28 February 2013.
  13. Neil McCormick, "Laura Mvula, Sing To the Moon, CD review", The Telegraph, 1 March 2013.
  14. MacKay, Emily, Album Mixing for Sing to the Moon, The Independent, 5 March 2013.
  15. 15.0 15.1 Brits Critics' Choice tips three new acts for 2013, BBC, 6 December 2012. URL accessed on 10 December 2012.
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  18. Lachno, James, influences, The Daily Telegraph, 29 November 2012.
  19. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/21/2013-mobo-awards-laura-mvula
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  26. 26.0 26.1 Peak positions for Ireland:
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  30. http://www.billboard.com/artist/1561798/laura-mvula
  31. http://www.mercuryprize.com/aoty/shortlist.php
  32. http://www.mobo.com/news-blogs/mobo-awards-2013-nominations-list-revealed
  33. http://urbanmusicawards.net/2013/11/fuse-odg-laura-mvula-naughty-boy-bruno-mars-avicii-diplo-ghetts-win-big-at-the-11th-annual-urban-music-awards-2013/
  34. http://news.qthemusic.com/2013/09/david_bowie_arctic_monkeys_daf.html
  35. http://www.brits.co.uk/nominees
  36. http://www.naacpimageawards.net/nominees/recording/

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Laura Mvula

  • Official website
This page was last modified 29.04.2014 22:24:38

This article uses material from the article Laura Mvula from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.