Laura Mvula says being dropped from Sony was a liberating experience for her.
Laura Mvula
The 'Green Garden' singer was left in shock after she learned her five-album contract with Sony's RCA Victor had been cancelled in a "cold and cruel" email that she received in January 2017 in a forwarded message from her former manager - who had been told in person about the decision.
Initially, Laura struggled with the news she was no longer with the label, but slowly she began to accept it and now thinks it was one of the most positive experiences of her life as it has handed her back her artistic freedom.
In an interview with The I Paper, she said: "Because I didn't really have perspective. I had bought into the false narrative that somehow, having a major record deal with a major label defined my career or meant that without it I didn't know who I was. Looking back now, wow, I was really lost at that point. I realise now that Sony liberated me. It's so exciting to be at the other end now, with all the labels wanting to sign me off the back of the last record, but me being in the position of taking my time."
Although the 32-year-old musician has had numerous offers from labels she wants to take her time and make sure her next move is the right one.
Laura - who released her second LP 'The Dreaming Room' back in 2016 - said: "I really want to be disciplined and patient enough not to rush it. The climate these days, it's all about having 'fast success' and momentum, but I'm going to take time over it and ignore the people who think I've been sitting on my arse for a year doing nothing. That's the hope, I really want to be a voice that grows with the times; I want to be just fearless as well, not just for the sake of it. But I want to end up making art that really has meaning and stands for something and has life."
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