Six years have passed since the release of Process, Sampha’s debut album, which won the prestigious Mercury Prize. Despite the years, the British artist picks up exactly where he left off by offering an album of tragic sweetness that caresses the ear when you listen to it absent-mindedly, but which shakes the heart when you immerse yourself in it.
Like Sufjan Stevens and James Blake, Sampha is one of those musicians who can articulate melancholy so beautifully, both through their voices and their compositions, that even the saddest lyrics can be comforting.
Lahai is Sampha Sisay’s middle name. It is also the first name of his paternal grandfather. The theme of family is, however, not as present as on Process, which allowed the Londoner to express the mourning of his mother. This new opus of 14 songs is still very personal. Sampha asks himself big questions about life, his career, his inspiration.
He became a father between Process and Lahai and then his status as a discreet collaborator of huge artists only grew. His magnificent voice, both soft and raspy, reached our ears for the first time in 2013 on Nothing Was The Same, by Drake. Since then, we’ve heard it with Beyoncé, Solange, Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar.
None of these or other well-known names were involved in the creation of Lahai. Yaeji, Ibeyi – in French on Time Piece – and Léa Sen are some of the voices contributing to the work. The music is that of Ricky Damian, El Guincho and Sampha. Together, they composed minimalist ambiances often based on drum and bass rhythms with piano notes and a few strings.
The whole thing is sublime. Pieces stand out such as Spirit 2.0, Suspended, Inclination Compass (Tenderness) – our favorite –, Only and Can’t Go Back, but the whole album will shine again and again in our headphones and in the background, according to the intensity of the desired emotion.
