Learning from Falling

Description

Lamya might be the latest protegee of Clive Davis, the pop magnate that brought the world Alicia Keys, but her debut album, Learning from Falling, is proof that Kenya-born chanteuse is a talent as daringly individual as Keys--or, indeed, any modern soul singer that you care to name. There's something of the eccentric spirit of Kate Bush or Bjork to Lamya's warm, honeyed vocals, but she quickly proves she's far more than a mere kooky chick: the fulsome likes of "I Get Cravings" and "East of Anywhere" demonstrate both range--she's a classically trained opera singer--and experience. Her confused upbringing has taken her from Africa to Sheffield to Cairo to New York; a history that, through Lamya's lyrics, makes its presence known in strange and unexpected ways: see the fraught, personal "Black Mona Lisa". The production--courtesy, in part, of Massive Attack producer Nellee Hooper--is rich and worldly, sitar sweeps and folk flourishes meshing tightly with crisp, sequenced beats. Even a take on Nick Drake's "Pink Moon"--an original song so perfect, it should, theoretically, be impossible to cover--avoids being a total disaster, thanks to Lamya's quietly delicious gusto. --Louis Pattison