Laura Mvula: Being dropped by record label was so liberating for me

Mvula said that being let go by Sony subsidiary RCA Records opened up “so many possibilities”
Barbican gig: Laura Mvula will perform with the London Symphony Orchestra
The Weekender

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Laura Mvula says being dropped by her record label was a blessing in disguise and led to a “liberating” burst of creativity.

The multi-award-winning soul singer said that being let go by Sony subsidiary RCA Records in March had looked “negative” but opened up “so many possibilities” — including working with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

She was speaking ahead of her gig at the Barbican tomorrow with her band and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Mvula, whose second album The Dreaming Room won an Ivor Novello award in May, said: “It is very easy to put overemphasis on some things that on the surface seem negative, be that being dropped or my personal stuff. Ultimately I have found the whole thing very liberating. Especially waving goodbye to my time with Sony. It opened up opportunity for my creativity. It is an end to an amazing phase, the start of a new one. There are so many possibilities, music, television, film. It is a really exciting time.”

Dave Benett

Earlier this year, Mvula revealed the record label had dropped her by email. Her manager was told in a meeting that her contract would not be renewed, but the singer claims she was simply forwarded a seven-line message. At the time, she said: “It felt so cold and cruel.” Sony confirmed to the BBC it had spoken to her manager about not extending the contract, but made no further comment.

A few months earlier she had divorced opera singer Themba Mvula, who she met as a student. She was also suffering a period of “crippling” anxiety, which she has said was partly responsible for the marriage breakdown. Mvula, who burst on to the music scene in 2013 with acclaimed album Sing To The Moon, added: “Life really is colourful, isn’t it? Everyone has peaks and troughs. I feel lucky my troughs have been enjoyable and have led me to greater things. At the end, I am in an amazing time. It’s not often you can say that.”

Ivor Novello Awards 2017 - In pictures

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The singer, 30, said writing the music for the RSC production of Anthony And Cleopatra — which will come to the Barbican at the end of the year — had been a “real highlight. It has got my creative juices flowing”.

In April, Birmingham-born Mvula made a short, online-only documentary for BBC Woman’s Hour called Generation Anxiety. She said many people had got in touch afterwards: “I am so pleased it has helped. I feel privileged to be part of anybody’s journey to recovery.”

Mvula was close friends with Prince, who died last year. She recently posted on Instagram an old picture of a bouquet he sent before her debut gig in Los Angeles. “It is amazing to reflect on the little time I had with him,” she said. “I feel sad we have lost one of the very best.”

Speaking about Friday’s gig, she said: “The feeling I get [playing with an orchestra] is so freeing. It is a joy to work with.”

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