Sampha has released his highly-anticipated, sophomore album LAHAI, out now on Young. Taken from his paternal grandfather’s name, which is also Sampha’s middle name, LAHAI revels in the awe and magic of our existence, synthesising the exquisite chaos that one experiences confronting the cycle of life and the beyondness. Spanning 14-tracks, with contributions from some of Sampha’s closest friends, peers and collaborators including: Yaeji, Léa Sen, Sheila Maurice Grey (Kokoroko), Ibeyi, Morgan Simpson (black midi), Yussef Dayes, Laura Groves and Kwake Bass, LAHAI, in contrast to Process, is a communal affair seeing Sampha explore the many ways in which we as humans connect to each other, and to something bigger than ourselves. On the album’s latest single ‘Only,’ premiering today via a new music video directed by Dexter Navy in collaboration with Sampha, which follows the recent ‘Spirit 2.0,’ we meet a newly energised Sampha, as he spits melodically over a fragmented hip-hop hued beat with co-production from El Guincho.
In June Sampha returned to the stage for the first time in five years for his Satellite Business residencies in London and New York. The unique set up of Sampha and his band performing in the centre of the room allowed fans intimate access to the improvisational performance of new, unreleased music and alternate arrangements of Sampha’s catalog, that left the audience “transfixed” (Pitchfork).
Not unlike its maker, LAHAI defies clear categorisation. Spanning jazz, soul, rap, dance, jungle and west African music, LAHAI sees Sampha elevating his production and vocal ambition to great new heights. A notable singer, song writer and producer, it’s no wonder that artists like Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Travis Scott, and previously, Drake, Solange, Frank Ocean, Beyoncé, Lil Wayne and Alicia Keys have all tapped the artist for his inimitable voice plus song writing and production contributions to their music. His work expands across multiple disciplines, with previous creative partnerships including the fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner, the Shy Light zine with Durimel (who also shot the LAHAI artwork) his Process film with director Kahlil Joseph, and most recently creative director Jonny Lu, with whom Sampha worked to create the LAHAI album artwork and logo.
If Process, Sampha’s 2017 Mercury-Prize-winning debut album, was an artist figuring out his own place in the world, engulfed in the shadows of grief and loss, LAHAI is an exercise in the radical acceptance and joy in the human condition, and the beauty in the journey itself. Welcome to Sampha’s next musical chapter: LAHAI.
Stream / Purchase LAHAI: https://sampha.ffm.to/
Sampha – ‘Only’ (Official Video)
Stream / Download: https://sampha.ffm.
Sampha – ‘Spirit 2.0’ (Official Visualiser)
Stream / Download: https://sampha.ffm.
Sampha – LAHAI
1. Stereo Colour Cloud (shaman’s dream)
2. Spirit 2.0
3. Dancing Circles
4. Suspended
5. Satellite Business
6. Jonathan L. Seagull
7. Inclination Compass (Tenderness)
8. Only
9. Time Piece
10. Can’t Go Back
11. Evidence
12. Wave Therapy
13. What If You Hypnotise Me?
14. Rose Tin
Sampha – LAHAI is out now via Young.
Sampha
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp
y-o-u-n-g.com
