Laura Mvula is a British recording artist, songwriter and composer. Her debut album, Sing to the Moon, was released on 4 March 2013, with an orchestral re-recording released on 11 August 2014. Her second album, The Dreaming Room, was released in 2016. Both albums were received to critical acclaim and garnered Mercury Prize nominations.
Early and personal life
Mvula grew up in the Birmingham suburbs of Selly Park and Kings Heath with two younger siblings and was influenced by the girl bandEternal. In her teen years she attended Swanshurst School for girls. Her mother is from Saint Kitts and her father is from Jamaica. In 2005, Mvula sang with Black Voices, an a cappella group set up by her aunt. In 2008, she formed a jazz/neo-soul group called Judyshouse, singing lead vocals and writing material for the band. Mvula was Director of the Lichfield Community Gospel Choir, founded by Black Voices and Lichfield Festival in 2009. She has also previously directed the Alvechurch Community Choir. Mvula graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire at the Birmingham City University with a degree in composition. While she was working as a supply teacher in a Birmingham secondary school, she started writing songs on her laptop. She was working as a receptionist when she sent out two demos to several people in the music industry. One of them, Steve Brown, heard the songs and sent them to his manager, Kwame Kwaten, who would become Mvula's manager. In a 2013 podcast for The Daily Telegraph, Mvula admitted to suffering from "crippling stage fright".
Career
2012–2014: ''Sing to the Moon''
After several showcases, Mvula was signed by Colin Barlow to Sony subsidiary RCA. She released her debut extended play, She, on 16 November 2012. The title track is the first song Mvula ever wrote. Her debut studio album, Sing to the Moon, was released on 4 March 2013. She worked on the album with producer Steve Brown and mix engineer Tom Elmhirst. Paul Lester from The Guardian described her music as "gospeldelia", calling it a new musical genre. The album was preceded by the single "Green Garden", an elegy to her home in Kings Heath. On 6 December 2012, Mvula was shortlisted for the Critics' Choice award at the 2013 BRIT Awards. On 9 December, she was nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2013 poll and finished in fourth position. On 1 February 2013, she gave her first live TV performance on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One, singing "Green Garden". Mvula stated her influences include Nina Simone, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill. Sing to the Moon reached number 9 on the UK Albums Chart and within the top 100 in seven other countries, and reached 173 on the US Billboard 200. In October 2013, Mvula won awards for best female act and best R&B or soul artist at the 2013 MOBO Awards. In March 2014, Mvula re-recorded an orchestral version of her debut album Sing to the Moon in collaboration with the Metropole Orkest and conducted by Jules Buckley. This was released on 23 June 2014 as a high quality download via Bowers & Wilkins' Society of Sound and on CD on 11 August 2014. On 19 August 2014, Mvula performed with the Metropole Orkest at the Albert Hall as part of the 2014 BBC Proms Season, supported by Esperanza Spalding and ElectricVocals.
2016–present: ''The Dreaming Room''
In January 2016, Mvula released "Overcome", a collaboration with Nile Rodgers, and the lead single from The Dreaming Room. Mvula recorded "Sing to the Moon" with Snarky Puppy for the album Family Dinner - Volume 2, which was released on 12 February 2016. She began promotion for The Dreaming Room by performing "Overcome" on The Graham Norton Show on 29 January 2016 and on The Andrew Marr Show on 14 February 2016. On 19 March 2016, Mvula played the first live show of the album at the Jazz Maastricht Festival. On 22 March 2016, she previewed the entire album at Islington Assembly Hall. On 7 April 2016, Mvula released "People" from the album, a collaboration with Wretch 32. On 19 April 2016, Mvula released the second single from The Dreaming Room, "Phenomenal Woman". On 27 May 2016, Mvula released "Show Me Love". The Dreaming Room was released on 17 June 2016. In June 2016, Mvula performed on the Glastonbury Pyramid stage for the second time. In July 2016, Mvula performed, with Tom Odell, at the first UK event for "Global Citizen" and "Chime For Change", at The View from The Shard in London. The evening followed the launch of the #SheWill campaign, aimed at breaking down the barriers that prevent millions of girls worldwide from attending school. On 30 October 2016, Mvula appeared on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing singing her new single "Ready or Not". In January 2017, Mvula revealed that she had been dropped by Sony. In April, she presented a Woman's Hour documentary discussing anxiety. Mvula composed the music for the 2017 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Antony and Cleopatra, which opened in Stratford in March 2017 and later transferred to The Barbican Centre in November 2017. In April 2018, Mvula performed "I Put a Spell on You" as part of BBC One's The Queen's Birthday Party from the Royal Albert Hall in London.
