ALBUM REVIEW: Laura Mvula ‘With Metropole Orkest’

A fantastic rerecording of Laura Mvula's Mercury Prize nominated debut album.
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Laura Mvula’s new album is and isn’t a new album. Mvula’s second album is a rerecording of her debut Mercury Prize nominated album, Sing to the Moon, featuring the Metropole Orkest.

Her debut album was a triumph, an excellent selection of songs sung by a woman with a truly individual voice that set Laura apart from every other female artist. Her new album takes advantage of her dramatic voice by coupling it with a beautiful orchestral score.

Despite using the same songs as her debut, this album is far from similar and you feel like you are hearing these fantastic songs for the first time. The thing that makes this album so good is how Laura has reinvented her music without it sounding repetitive. This album isn’t a rerelease – it’s a total overhaul.

The extraordinary orchestral accompaniment and backing vocals add a nostalgic feel to every song meaning that every song is graceful and calming. Laura has managed to create a true masterpiece whilst the rerecording of her phenomenal debut album is great I can’t help wishing there was some new material on this album. I’m not saying get rid of the old tracks, but mix some new music into it.

On the whole, Laura Mvula’s second album is brilliant. Her beautiful vocals and the superb orchestral accompaniment re-establishes Laura as one of the greatest female artists of recent years. With very few flaws,  this album is by far one of my favourites of 2014 so far.

Laura Mvula with Metropole Orkest Conducted By Jules Buckley at Abbey Road Studios is out now via Sony Music.

Adam Ross