Blood (Lianne La Havas album)
Blood is the second studio album by English singer Lianne La Havas. It was released on 31 July 2015 by Warner Bros. Records. Following the release of her critically acclaimed debut Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), La Havas embarked on a variety of tours and festivals before traveling to Jamaica. During La Havas' time in Jamaica, she attempted to regain a connection with her roots; the exploration inspired La Havas to begin writing the follow-up to her debut. During her stay in Jamaica, La Havas met with reggae producer Stephen McGregor, who would subsequently go on to help produce the album.
Blood
31 July 2015
2013–2015
40:37
- Mark Batson
- Paul Epworth
- Matt Hales
- Lianne La Havas
- Jamie Lidell
- Stephen McGregor
As well as working with McGregor, La Havas reunited with past collaborator Matt Hales. La Havas co-wrote each of the album's songs and was credited as a co-producer on one. Havas cited the album as an homage towards her Jamaican and Greek bloodline, which in turn inspired the album's title. Blood was seen as a departure from the acoustic musical leanings of her debut Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), taking on a neo soul and jazz style, with elements of R&B, doo-wop, reggae and gospel music. The album's songs were characterised as having heavy basses with electronic flourishes and lyrics focusing on love, relationships, and identity.
Upon release Blood was met with positive reviews from music critics, who praised the musical transition and its overall progression from La Havas' debut album. Commercially the album was successful, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom and number one in the Netherlands and Norway as well as making appearances on other charts. In order to promote the album La Havas ventured on numerous tours and supported Blood with the release of two singles—"Unstoppable" and "What You Don't Do"—both of which fared moderately. It received a nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards.
Background[edit]
Following La Havas' signing to Warner Bros. Records in 2010, she spent the following two years developing her songwriting skills before releasing any music publicly.[2][3] Her official debut single "Lost & Found" was released in the UK on 30 April 2012,[4] and her debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough? was released on 9 July 2012 on Warner Bros. The album was released to universal acclaim from music critics, later winning the Album of the Year at iTunes UK as well as receiving nominations for a Barclaycard Mercury Prize and Ivor Novello Best Album.[1] Following the release of the album La Havas supported it with numerous tour dates and festivals including the RockNess music festival,[5] Glastonbury Festival 2013.[6] and the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2013.
Release and promotion[edit]
Blood was released on 31 July 2015 through Warner Bros. Records.[30] The album was distributed in six release formats including two 12-inch vinyl records, one of which included an exclusive signing; the CD, which was released as a standard version and an exclusively signed version; and the digital download, which was released in a standard format and an iTunes mastered format.[31]
The album was titled Blood due to La Havas gravitating towards the word when songwriting. La Havas also stated that the album was titled Blood because it was at the heart of the album due to her inspiration from her heritage and her family's Jamaican and Greek bloodline.[29]
Prior to the album's release La Havas previewed tracks from Blood at various intimate shows, starting in Brigton Komedia on 18 May, followed by London's Wilton's Music Hall on 19 May, and then dates in Amsterdam and Berlin later in that month, before going on to tour festivals.[8] The album's lead single "Unstoppable" was made available to stream on 21 April 2015 and was released for digital download on 1 June in the United Kingdom.[32] "What You Don't Do" was released as the album's second single along with a music video, and was sent for digital release on 7 August 2015.[33]
La Havas promoted the album further throughout the summer of 2015 with appearances in Swansea and Manchester as a special guest to Paolo Nutini. Her summer festival appearances commenced with a Glastonbury set followed by appearances at How the Light Gets In, Latitude, Gentlemen of the Road, curated by Mumford and Sons, and Bestival.[34] La Havas later announced she would be embarking on a month-long North American tour beginning 23 September 2015 with stops in Washington, DC; Chicago; Boston; San Francisco; and Austin, among others.[35] The tour followed previously announced performances at the Essence Festival in New Orleans and a sold-out pair of intimate evenings at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and Bowery Ballroom in New York in July.[35] Tickets for the fall shows went on sale on 26 June, and included a digital download of Blood in its entirety using a code sent by email.[35] Additionally, a limited amount of VIP packages that included a ticket to the show, custom merchandise items, and priority entry at participating venues were made available.[35]
Following her performance at Glastonbury and the announcement of her North American tour, La Havas confirmed she would embark on a tour across Ireland and the United Kingdom. The tour took place during December 2015 and visited Dublin, Olympia Theatre; Birmingham, The Institute; Bournemouth, O2 Academy; Cambridge, Corn Exchange; Bristol, O2 Academy; Glasgow, O2 Academy; Manchester, Albert Hall; Leeds, O2 Academy; and Brixton, O2 Academy.[36]
Commercial performance[edit]
Blood was a commercial success, debuting at number two on the UK Albums Chart, missing out on the top spot by 1,300 copies.[48] Five singles were released from the album, including "Unstoppable" on 21 April 2015,[32] and "What You Don't Do" on 7 August. "Unstoppable" performed poorly, only making an appearance on the Belgium Flanders Ultratip chart.[49] The second single "What You Don't Do" experienced more success than its predecessor, peaking at number fifty-four on the Flanders Ultratip chart and peaking at number twenty-nine on the US Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.[49][50]