Laura Mvula continues to bring it in the lead up to the release of her sophomore album, The Dreaming Room. The singer-songwriter shocked and pleased with the set's first single "Overcome" and just last week had us in our feels with the emotional "People." Now she's giving us another listen to the highly anticipated set with "Phenomenal Woman." And you'd better believe, like "Overcome" before it, this is one funky jam.
The song, inspired by the Maya Angelou song of the same name, finds Laura speaking to the beauty, both inside and out, in a world where they aren't necessarily valued. "Nobody ever told her she was beauty / One day she realized she was already free," Laura sings in the opening verse. "The color in her eyes was fire rising / She found a lot inside a new horizon." While the song celebrates just how amazing women are, it's wrapped in delicious slice of late '70s/early '80s-style funk. During the verse, the bass line whirls and whirs along as guitar adds a bit of flavor, but the by the time the celebratory chorus hits, everything gels together for a funky good time. "Oh my God / Oh my, she flies," Laura sings as thee bass slinks and sways, her angelic backing vocals take their cue and the rhythm guitar adds an addicting counterpoint.
It seems that Laura is enjoying playing in a new sound palate for The Dreaming Room, and we're definitely enjoying what she's come up with and can't wait to see what else the album has in store when it arrives on June 17th. If you're in the mood for some uplifting funk, give "Phenomenal Woman" a spin below.
