Photo: Natalie Arnett

With “Age,” from her debut EP, Lost & Found, young British songbird Lianne La Havas does more to bolster the collective ego of the middle-aged male populace than the entire filmography of George Clooney. Accompanied only by her own gently jazzy guitar strumming, the 22-year-old sings in sultry, seductive tones about getting romantic with a guy who’s “old enough to be my father,” casting aside any concerns about the Nabokov-esque age difference, “as long as he does whatever he’s told.” Not shy about being autobiographical, La Havas readily reveals that “The events mentioned in the song are all completely true.”

But it’s not only the avuncular, over-40 set that stands to fall under her spell. La Havas reports that the song “was written to feel like something of a ‘ditty’ calling upon an old jazz style.” Her sound blends jazzy fluidity, soulful sass, folkie fragility, and pop appeal, and she cites influences ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to Erykah Badu. So ultimately, age ought to determine as little about the lady’s potential audience as it does about La Havas’s apparent objet’ de désir.