Laura Mvula – Pink Noise
Laura Mvula's unique vocal range is the star of Pink Noise, her first new music in five years
Pink Noise sees Laura Mvula return with her first new music in five years and, on it, she’s gone full 80s. The album is Mvula’s first release on Atlantic Records and her first since being dropped by her previous label, Sony, via an extremely impersonal email in 2017. With this in mind, Pink Noise could well be described as a redemption record and Mvula spares few punches.
Church Girl is about as Whitney a single can come without being an actual Whitney single, with its synth patterns more than a little reminiscent of I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me). Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro makes a bizarre and unexpected cameo on the album’s one outright ballad, What Matters. Mvula’s unique vocal range is the album’s shining star, though, and her voice soars over tracks like Safe Passage, Pink Noise and Got Me.
Pink Noise is a John Hughes soundtrack just waiting for its film to be written and it’s a bold return from an artist with a point to prove. Describing it as the album she’s always wanted to make, it’s no wonder Mvula sounds so comfortable.
Listen to: Church Girl, Pink Noise, Got Me