After she completed extensive touring in support of
Is Your Love Big Enough?,
Lianne La Havas visited Jamaica with her native Jamaican mother and connected with distant relatives. Additionally inspired by her Greek roots through her father -- hence the album's title -- and possibly fortified by her experiences recording with
Prince,
Alt-J, and
Tourist,
Blood is no mere rehash of the Top Five U.K. debut that preceded it.
Matt Hales, aka
Aqualung, remains on board as a production and co-writing partner, but he contributes to fewer songs. Among the collaborators here are
Stephen McGregor (son of
Freddie McGregor), retro-soul specialist
Jamie Lidell,
Disclosure's
Howard Lawrence, and pop heavy weights
Mark Batson and
Paul Epworth.
La Havas goes for a bigger, bolder, more produced sound without glossing over her singer/songwriter/guitarist origin. The point is made in the opener, a storybook love song about being swept away that is carried on a rhythm firmer than anything heard on the debut. On "Tokyo,"
La Havas' yearning and state of disorientation is intensified by hazy effects and an appealingly chunky and slow groove that wouldn't be out of place on
Jessie Ware's
Devotion. "Midnight" and "Ghost" likewise wouldn't have the same resonance if merely sung and strummed, while "Never Get Enough" enters discretely but repeatedly veers into a dissonant stomp of lust and vexation. A few moments, like the wistful "Wonderful" and candid closer, are as hushed and restrained as the first album's highlights. The most vivid autobiographical song is "Green & Gold," a standout
Lidell collaboration referencing
La Havas' growth into an adult who is proud and understanding of her background and identity. This work leaves the debut, impressive as it was, in the dust. ~ Andy Kellman