Nan

Album: The Dreaming Room (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is a reconstruction of a phone call Laura Mvula made to her grandmother, in which the singer's nan (impersonated by Mvula) tells her to "write a song I can shake me foot."

    Mvula took this instruction seriously when writing for The Dreaming Room. She told The Daily Telegraph: "I'm a dark soul, but I'm also a playful child. I didn't want to be sat at my piano for this album. So I started having fun with old synthesizers. A Roland Paraphonic 6 became my beast in the studio. It could play mad bass and funk and manipulate sounds… like the sound of me tapping my rings together, clapping my hands onto my bottom, hitting a book with my high heels."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."