Out of a concern, of a perpetual chase, here’s what i research when I realize that I’m losing my edge
On Lianne La Havas
How dare she? Not only she covers Radiohead, but she also picks Weird Fishes. How can she be so cheeky, knowing that she is pushing buttons, cult buttons? And yet, her grace, her smile, that profound voice. I know very little about music, but I love music a lot. And she stands tall in between that short list of artists that can master the tecnique along with the sentiment.
Lianne and I have a history, albeit one-sided, but still. Back in 2018 I was deep diving in NPR Tiny Desk, someone I knew had been there. Maybe Natalia Lafourcade. Lianne’s set is composed of only 3 songs, that now I know by heart. ‘What you don’t do’ she goes without guitar, smiling and getting into the song, filling the room with a mix of shyness and flirt. 'Unstoppable’ and the guitar is on, she’s on her own, picking up speed:
I was like a satellite spinning away
Almost lost forever and leaving no trace
Floating through the darkest reaches of space
To another galaxy
Our polarity shifted around
There is nothing else left holding us down
But it's just gravitational
We are unstoppable
For the last song, ‘Forget’, she just goes all out, her guitar is raw and her tone goes high up, she even misses a verse at the end. And how much I watched this, how much I was captured by this woman. It was easy after that. Internet makes it easy for people looking for something to love. Her London upbringing, Greek/Jamaican parents, her discipline at songwriting, which could be trivia, except that is not, it matters. It’s been close to 3 years now, and I realize that the music you love is the music you live with. You don’t get to choose. How much power is that? Certainly Lianne La Havas can harness that power to make a surreal song like Weird Fishes
I'd be crazy not to follow
Follow where you lead
Your eyes
They turn me