Lianne La Havas spoke with NPR's Ari Shapiro on All Things Considered for its Play It Forward series, in which artists share musicians who inspire them. You can hear it below. The previous week, spoken word poet Kae Tempest had selected La Havas for the honor.

"There is something that happens when I hear her sing, which is so uplifting ... this wash of pure melodic brilliance," Tempest says of La Havas. "I just hear somebody enjoying the beauty of music; like what a beautiful gift it is to have music and to play music and give music to others. I’d like to say thank you for making me feel less alone in the world and for putting your heart into everything you sing."

In La Havas's own conversation with Shapiro, she says of her sound: "I like to leave in a few mistakes in a good way. You know, I feel like if it's too perfect, it takes something away. And equally, if it's too messy, it's—I think I'm sort of somewhere in the middle of very neat but a bit rough around the edges—neat but with atmosphere, I would say."

Shapiro, in describing the song "Bittersweet," from La Havas's new, self-titled album, says: "I feel like this summer, everyone is kind of trying to do their best to just keep it together. And when the chorus of this track hits, it's like you're not even pretending anymore. Like, the mask drops, and it just feels very real."

For her part, La Havas selects for the next artist in the Play It Forward series her inspiration, Nick Hakim.