It was a hot Sunday afternoon…..

Chilling on my balcony….

Sipping on a cold beer….

Listening to Sublime Fm….. and suddenly I had goose bumps all over my body.

For as long as I can remember I love music and from an early age on I noticed it doing something with my soul. Here’s a throwback picture from when I was little, dancing around the house in my pj’s. Judging by the position of my arms I’m guessing I was trying to perform a  Sevillana Dance (I was living in Spain at the time).

So back to the goose bumps. Growing up in music made me appreciate a lot of styles but at the same time I find myself to be quite the critic. Therefore when music touches my soul, IT TOUCHES MY SOUL. 

That is what happened on that Sunday afternoon, I heard the voice of Lianne La Havas and it threw me off instantly. I was mesmerized by the greatness of her voice and I could just hear the soul in her lyrics. This was something else, a real artist in between all the commercial music bands out there. When you listen to her song “Lost & Found” no further explanation will be necessary. I learned through Google she was going to be performing in Amsterdam but the event was sold out :(.

Then destiny came along  and I got to see her perform at North Sea Jazz Festival. If you like her sound through your speakers you are  not going to know what hit you when you see her perform live. This is Beyonce calibre to me in the sense of that she is an artist with a great voice, quality songs and performance, selling out concerts all the time.

She is half Greek half Jamaican, how can you not write great lyrics (even heartbreaking sometimes) with that kind of interesting and cultural background.

During NSJ15 her forthcoming album “Blood” was due to come out two weeks later. I was pleasently surprised by her new songs. For example her song “Midnight” immediately gives you this feel good vibe that everything is just going to be allright (it’s on repeat when I’m on my bike). But the song she really blew me away with was  “Never get enough”. It turns out there’s an inner Rock chick hidden inside of  her which made me love her even more as there’s one inside of me too ;).

Check out my video to see what I’m talking about:

Yes, Lianne La Havas has become a TaniStates crew favorite and it turns out The Netherlands is one of her favorite places to perform, therefore she will be coming back this November!

Have a great Weekend 😉

-Tani

(pictures Lianne La Havas taken from internet)