Sampha has revealed full details of his highly anticipated sophomore album LAHAI, due out October 20th on Young/Beggars. Named after his paternal grandfather, who is also Sampha’s middle name, the album embraces the wonder and magic of life and harmoniously combines the mesmerizing chaos that arises when confronted with the eternal cycle of life. life and the supernatural.
With 14 tracks and contributions from some of Sampha’s closest friends, colleagues and collaborators, including: Yaeji, Léa Sen, Sheila Maurice Gray (Kokoroko), Ibeyi, Morgan Simpson (Black Midi), Yussef Dayes, Laura Groves and Kwake Bass, LAHAI is , as opposed to Process, a collaborative venture in which Sampha explores the many ways we as humans are connected to each other and to something bigger than ourselves.
With the album announcement, Sampha shares his new single “Only“. A video directed by Dexter Navy has been released for the song. On “Only” we meet a newly energized Sampha, as he raps melodiously over a fragmented, hip-hop tinged beat co-produced by 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 arrangement of Sampha and his band performing in the center of the room gave fans intimate access to the improvisation of new, unreleased music and alternate arrangements of Sampha’s repertoire. This fall, Sampha will be taking an elevated version of the Satellite Business live show on the road. On Tuesday 5 December, Sampha will come to Amsterdam for a show at Royal Theater Carré.
As a remarkable singer, songwriter and producer, it’s no wonder that artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Travis Scott and previously Drake, Solange, Frank Ocean, Beyoncé, Lil Wayne and Alicia Keys have all appealed to the artist for his inimitable voice and his contributions to songwriting and production in their music. His work spans multiple disciplines, with previous creative collaborations including fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner, the Shy Light zine with Durimel (who also shot the artwork for LAHAI), his Process film with director Kahlil Joseph, and most recently creative director Jonny Lu, who Sampha worked with to create the artwork and logo for LAHAI.
If Process, Sampha’s 2017 Mercury Prize-winning debut album, was an artist discovering his own place in the world, surrounded by shadows of grief and loss, then LAHAI is an exercise in radical acceptance and joy in the human condition and the beauty of the journey itself.
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