THE GALLERY: Laura Mvula @ O2 Institute 19.11.16 -

Words by Ed King / Pics by Paul Reynolds

On Saturday 19^th November, Laura Mvula came to the O2 Institute – with support from Oliver St Louis.

Laura Mvula was back in Birmingham at the midway point of her UK Autumn tour, a couple of months (and a Christmas) before she sets off for North America and Australia, with one Cape Town gig in between. For Laura Mvula’s full tour schedule, click here.

But we get the homecoming and that’s what it’s all about. One of the finer artists to come from Birmingham in recent years, Laura Mvula is an intelligent tapestry of homegrown success – with traditional roots in a gospel chorus and burgeoning branches that cover jazz, funk, soul and all things angelic; what, a, vocalist. Plus she’s written songs about Kings Heath, and I can only think of one other human on this blue ball that’s found a muse in B14.

Laura Mvula shot to fame after her debut album, Sing to the Moon, came out in March 2013. But her follow up album of original tracks, The Dreaming Room, came out in January this year and is gaining ground on the hyperbole surrounding its predecessor.

With a set list marrying old and new, Birmingham’s O2 Institute crowd got to bear witness to the cherry pickings from Laura Mvula’s portfolio – including seminal tracks from both LPs, such as ‘Green Garden’, ‘She’, ‘Overcome’, ‘People’ and ‘Phenomenal Woman’.

Paul Reynolds was at the O2 Institute for Birmingham Review, shooting an extended photo feature to go into THE GALLERY. See a selection of Paul’s shots below, or click here for the full Flickr of pics (or on the link above). There’s some on our Instagram page too.

Laura Mvula @ O2 Institute 19.11.16 / Paul Reynolds