With her signature side-bun piled on top of her head, and her wide smile beaming, Lianne La Havas is the new female face of soul we’ve all been waiting for since Amy Winehouse. Her chic demeanour is furthered by the casual strumming of her 1962 Danelectro guitar at the beginning of title track ‘Forget’, and her strong female image renders her reminiscent of influences such as Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone.
‘Forget’ pivots around a rhythmic electric guitar riff and La Havas’ echoing vocals. The track is stripped down to a bare minimum of layers, highlighting her smoky voice, but eventually builds up with the addition of drums and backing vocals. La Havas sings of heart break in the opening lines “Waste all your time writing love songs / but you don’t love me” while in the chorus she passionately belts out that she wants to “forget / all the words that let you break my heart”. However, the general tone of the track is upbeat and jovial, which reflects a sense of her female independence as she claims “I am a one man band”.
‘Forget’ is one of five varied tracks from her début EP, and is well-worth a listen if you’re in need of some easy listening “sweet guitar-pop” to spur you throughout your day.
Lianne La Havas was listed in the top 15 in the BBC Sound of 2012 poll and will play a sold out gig next week at The Borderline, London, as part of HMV’s Next Big Thing. Her début album is set to be released in the spring.
