Blood is the second studio album by English singer Lianne La Havas. It was released on 31 July 2015 by Warner Bros. Records. Following the release of her critically acclaimed debut Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), La Havas embarked on a variety of tours and festivals before traveling to Jamaica. During La Havas' time in Jamaica, she attempted to regain a connection with her roots; the exploration inspired La Havas to begin writing the follow-up to her debut. During her stay in Jamaica, La Havas met with reggae producer Stephen McGregor, who would subsequently go on to help produce the album.
As well as working with McGregor, La Havas reunited with past collaborator Matt Hales. La Havas co-wrote each of the album's songs and was credited as a co-producer on one. Havas cited the album as an homage towards her Jamaican and Greek bloodline, which in turn inspired the album's title. Blood was seen as a departure from the acoustic musical leanings of her debut Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), taking on a neo soul and jazz style, with elements of R&B, doo-wop, reggae and gospel music. The album's songs were characterised as having heavy basses with electronic flourishes and lyrics focusing on love, relationships, and identity.
Upon release Blood was met with positive reviews from music critics, who praised the musical transition and its overall progression from La Havas' debut album. Commercially the album was successful, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom and number one in the Netherlands and Norway as well as making appearances on other charts. In order to promote the album La Havas ventured on numerous tours and supported Blood with the release of two singles—"Unstoppable" and "What You Don't Do"—both of which fared moderately. It received a nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards.
Background
Following La Havas' signing to Warner Bros. Records in 2010, she spent the following two years developing her songwriting skills before releasing any music publicly. Her official debut single "Lost & Found" was released in the UK on 30 April 2012, and her debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough? was released on 9 July 2012 on Warner Bros. The album was released to universal acclaim from music critics, later winning the Album of the Year at iTunes UK as well as receiving nominations for a Barclaycard Mercury Prize and Ivor Novello Best Album. Following the release of the album La Havas supported it with numerous tour dates and festivals including the RockNess music festival, Glastonbury Festival 2013. and the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2013.
Recording
Following the touring La Havas embarked on in order to promote her debut album, she traveled to Jamaica along with her mother in order to regain a connection with her roots. During her time in Jamaica La Havas played music for her family alongside dancehall and reggae producer Stephen McGregor (known under his production name Di Genius), who would later go on to produce the majority of the songs on Blood. The exploration of La Havas' roots inspired her to begin writing; she stated that the album's writing process and the songs were all related to "the feeling of who you are and where you come from", whilst the album's music was inspired by Jamaica's love of grooves, rhythms, and syncopation.
During the album's recording process La Havas, took inspiration from her mixed Greek and Jamaican heritage and the "clarity" she discovered when revisiting her youth. Besides Stephen McGregor, La Havas worked with a variety of other producers; the album's lead single "Unstoppable" was produced by Paul Epworth and built upon an instrumental recording by Ninja Tune-signed trio The Invisible, and was written in order to help La Havas repair a relationship that she had previously ended. As well as Epworth, Blood featured production work from Mark Batson, while Aqualung's Matt Hales co-wrote the song "Wonderful" with La Havas and Disclosure's Howard Lawrence. '
"Green & Gold" was co-produced and co-written by Jamie Lidell. The song was also co-produced by La Havas herself and was described by her as being completely literal and true. During the recording of "Midnight" Havas stated that she was able to perform a style of singing that she did not think she could do. The song was written in Jamaica, something La Havas said was necessary because she would not have been able to create the lyrics if she was anywhere else.