Description

White vinyl LP

Highly anticipated sophomore album ‘Lahai’, via 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, synthesizing 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’, we meet a newly energized Sampha, as he spits melodically over a fragmented hip-hop-hued beat with co-production from El Guincho.
Not unlike its maker, ‘Lahai’ defies clear categorization. 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, songwriter 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 songwriting 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.

Tracklisting

Stereo Colour Cloud (shaman’s dream)
Spirit 2.0
Dancing Circles
Suspended
Satellite Business
Jonathan L. Seagull
Inclination Compass (Tenderness)
Only
Time Piece
Can’t Go Back
Evidence
Wave Therapy
What If You Hypnotise Me?
Rose Tint