Lianne La Havas @ The Albany
Singer-songwriters in South London, and studio recordings vs. live performance
In my last post about Lizzie No’s performance at The Grace in Islington, I mentioned that the guitar style of her support act, Ashaine White, reminded me of South London singer-songwriter/guitarist Lianne La Havas.
Writing that sentence inspired me to check out what Lianne La Havas was up to these days, and – by an incredible stroke of luck – it turned out that she was performing that very evening at The Albany down in Deptford. Unfortunately the show was sold out, but – in a second incredible stroke of luck – some small print on the Albany website revealed that a limited number of additional tickets would be released later in the day. I made sure to be back at the appointed time, and was able to grab a ticket.
I’m not sure exactly where I first encountered Lianne La Havas’ music, but I have a vague memory of seeing a video where she was walking through the streets of Paris while singing and playing an electric guitar. The electric guitar is most often associated with noise and rock music, but Lianne La Havas plays it like a harp, gently plucking the strings while playing complex jazz chords up and down the neck.
I’ve always been happy to see Lianne on TV, but I have to admit that I’ve never quite been able to get into her albums. The magic, for me, lies in the combination of her voice and her guitar, whereas in the studio her guitar playing is often obscured by other instruments. My favourite Lianne La Havas recordings are the ones where she is performing totally solo; the alternate version of her second album Blood – entitled Blood (solo) - is well worth seeking out in this regard.
The last time I had seen Lianne La Havas on TV, however, she had been playing with a full band and seemed to be pursuing a rockier sound, and I assumed that this would be the format of this evening’s performance.
The exterior of The Albany is looking a little run down these days, but the performance space itself is very interesting: a circular design that feels like a miniature version of The Roundhouse over in Camden. I was heartened to see that the stage was empty except for two chairs and some amplifiers – clearly the show was going to be very stripped down, if not entirely solo.
Before the headliner took to the stage, we were treated to a support act in the form of the singer known mononymously as ELI, accompanied by her bass player Greg Hummell. ELI plays the electric guitar in a minimalist style similar to (possibly inspired by?) yet subtly different from Lianne La Havas: delicate fingerpicking alternated with percussive rhythm playing. There were some wonderful passages where the guitar and bass cut loose and seemed to weave around each other, creating a spiderweb of sound for ELI’s powerful vocal to rest on top of.
ELI has a self-produced EP out called Full Form, but curiously this features very little of her distinctive guitar playing, leaning in more of an R&B direction. However, I was happy to find that ELI has recorded a live session featuring three songs from the EP, which offers a much more accurate representation of what her music sounds like in performance.
After this excellent opener, a relaxed and happy Lianne La Havas appeared, all alone except for her trusty electric guitar. It occurred to me that she is one of those musicians who need to be seen as well as heard, so you can track the unusual, finger-stretching chord shapes she makes with her left hand. Something else that doesn’t come across on recordings is Lianne’s use of volume when singing. Most of the time she sings very softly, almost whispering into the microphone, only to suddenly start singing much louder at crucial dramatic moments. It’s a very effective technique.
All of Lianne’s songs are soft and dreamy and feel interconnected, with this concert being very much a mood piece rather than a showcase of different styles. The mood in question was “chilled summer evening” in front of an attentive crowd that was happy to welcome Lianne La Havas back to South London. A backing vocalist joined her onstage for a few songs to add harmony and percussion, but this was a solo performance in every sense of the word, and the extra instruments were not missed.
I’d love for Lianne La Havas to record a live album, ideally documenting a concert just like this one. There are some performers who, for whatever reason, cannot truly be captured in the studio – the late B.B. King, for example, recorded more than 40 studio albums, few of which capture what he really sounded like; for that you have consult albums like Live at the Regal or Live at Cook County Jail. On the other hand, you don’t need a live album to hear what Lianne La Havas really sounds like, because the best way to do that is to go and see her live and in person. And I highly recommend that you do!