Laura Mvula says being dropped from her record label was "liberating".

The 'Green Garden' singer was left in shock after she learned her contract with the label was to end through a "cold and cruel" message in January that she had been forwarded by her former manager, who had been told in person that they were terminating her five-album deal.

However, on reflection, it has led her to a more creative place and she is excited about the future.

She said: "It is very easy to put overemphasis on some things that on the surface seem negative, be that being dropped or my personal stuff. Ultimately I have found the whole thing very liberating. Especially waving goodbye to my time with Sony. It opened up opportunity for my creativity. It is an end to an amazing phase, the start of a new one. There are so many possibilities, music, television, film. It is a really exciting time."

The 31-year-old singer also went through a divorce from opera star Themba Mvula, who she had been married to since 2009, months prior to being axed from Sony's RCA Victor.

However, she insists she is in a much happier place now.

Speaking to the London Evening Standard newspaper, she said: "Life really is colourful, isn't it? Everyone has peaks and troughs. I feel lucky my troughs have been enjoyable and have led me to greater things. At the end, I am in an amazing time. It's not often you can say that."

Revealing she was let go via a message rather than in person, Laura said at the time: "I didn't see anyone, I didn't hear anybody's voice. I just read words. It felt so cold and cruel. Not even the fact I was dropped, the way that the whole thing happened. To be treated like that doesn't feel quite just."