Laura Mvula has said she still does not know why she was dropped by her record label in 2017.
The classically trained soul singer, 34, was let go by Sony subsidiary RCA Records despite having recently released critically acclaimed album The Dreaming Room.
Speaking to singer and host Jessie Ware on the Table Manners podcast, Mvula said her family had been “devastated” by the news.
This week we invite @lauramvula over for lunch. Laura is about to bring out her third record on July 2, Pink Noise, so to celebrate Lennie made a sumptuous chicken, spiced potatoes, salad and @Nigella_Lawson salted chocolate chunks! pic.twitter.com/yF0N1CXxzl
— tablemannerspodcast (@tablemannerspod) April 21, 2021
She said: “I was dropped. I fully regretted how much I had already identified as a little bit of a darling. I thought there was love there.
“We all know that the industry is dog eat dog and unpredictable. It changes every second, it’s so fickle.
“Because I’m so – I don’t want to say gullible, that is the first word that came to my mind – I think I’m very trusting, I like to build genuine relationships with people.
“I don’t think for even one minute that that was even an option… and that album I had just put out, The Dreaming Room, won an Ivor for best album.”
Asked why she was dropped, she said: “I don’t know. To this day I’m not sure. I got a six-line email that said, ‘After discussions we’ve decided we will not be renewing the next option, thank you for your efforts, wishing you all the best for the future.’ That was it.
“I don’t think I accepted it for ages. I don’t think it sunk in. I was just determined to talk about it to whoever would listen.”
Mvula, originally from Birmingham, went on to win an Ivor Novello award and a Mercury Prize nomination, and received an honorary doctorate of music from Birmingham City University.
Her upcoming third album Pink Noise will be released on Atlantic.
Listen to the full interview on Table Manners with Jessie Ware.