Laura Mvula
The Dreaming Room
Album · R&B/Soul · 2016
Personal pain becomes complex, exultant pop on the British soul star’s stunning second album. Building on the eclectic, strange pleasures of her debut Sing To The Moon, Mvula—working alongside Amy Winehouse drummer Tommy Miller—uses her battles with anxiety as the fuel for bruised, neo-jazz ballads (“Show Me Love”) and, perhaps most surprisingly, a few irresistible trips to the dance floor. “Let Me Fall” is a tumbling waterfall of synth, “Phenomenal Woman” packs preposterous funk and the Nile Rodgers-backed “Overcome” is a certified disco banger.