Edinburgh ParkClosing the Edinburgh international festival after years out of the spotlight, Mvula delivers a triumphant evening of lush 80s soundscapes
Static pours from the speakers on the final night of the Edinburgh international festival. If not for the rolling waves of warmth, rustling like autumn leaves, it could be a soundcheck gone awry. Laura Mvula’s third album Pink Noise is named after precisely this kind of comforting static and as it builds to a crescendo, a waterfall of sound, Mvula steps out into a brief, awed silence.
This moment has been years in the making. If you
Google the Birmingham
Singer, “What happened to Laura Mvula?” is a suggested search. Her 2013 debut Sing to the
moon was a Mobo-winning, Mercury-nominated triumph, combining her church choir background with a crisp, striking sound. It had legends including Prince, Nile Rodgers and David Byrne clamouring to work with her. In 2017 she won the prestigious Ivor Novello album award for her rich second record The Dreaming Room. But despite the acclaim, Mvula was dropped from her Sony record deal – via a forwarded email, no less. She’s spoken frankly about the crisis of confidence that followed, in herself as an artist as well as in the thought of a future in a plainly exploitative pop industry.