Numero ocho goes to the lovely Laura Mvula and her album The Dreaming Room. It's been a long time since I could say that I've enjoyed a sophomore album noticeably more than the debut but Laura's definitely done it.
Don't get me wrong, Sing To The Moon had some gems on it for sure but every single song on this album is a gem. Whether I'm listening to it upside down, back to front, shuffled up - this album has not disappointed once yet. In fact, my most played song on Spotify this year was actually "Phenomenal Woman" - the last song on this album. After first hearing this song, I'm pretty sure I woke up to it consistently every day for close to a month. What a way to get the day started! Such an uplifting song! There's no way that I can listen to this and not "jig me foot" as Laura's Nan says.
One criticism I may have for the album itself is that although I enjoy every song on there, lyrically and instrumentally, there may be portions where it falls a bit short and where some others have surpassed it this year. However, the reason this made it onto my list is because it played such a huge part in my day-to-day - it truly served to lift my spirits and keep my head up, and for me, that's reason enough. As cliche as it sounds Laura's music was there for me this year, and I enjoyed every note! Although, don't just take my word for it - The Dreaming Room was also nominated for The Mercury Prize this year over and against some other very big british names, so I guess I wasn't the only one.
I hope that Laura continues to go from strength to strength after this one, she's always had the talent, there's no question of that - I just never know what creative direction she might take next. Another few favourites from the record for me were "Overcome" and "Let Me Fall". If you haven't already given this a listen or if you've never even heard of her - give up a good 36 minutes of your time to listen to this album. I guarantee it will leave you with a smile on your face.
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