We’ve been building up to this moment for a little while now, but Sampha’s new album, Lahai, has finally arrived.
Preceded by the singles “Spirit 2.0” and “Only”, Lahai needed little fanfare given the six-year wait we’ve endured since 2017’s phenomenal Process. He’s hardly been absent, of course, working with a host of A-listers like Stormzy, Kendrick, Alicia Keys and more.
French artist Léa Sen is the only featured artist on the LP, making a breathtaking appearance on the song “What If You Hypnotise Me?”. Besides that, this is all Sampha, expounding on fatherhood, persisting trauma, his own internal demons, and as he hints on the Sen collaboration, the value he’s found in therapy.
Meanwhile, on the production side, he’s drafted in Kwake Bass, Ricky Damian, El Guincho, and Teo Halm to assist. Equally, it looks like the writing process was a little more collaborative, too, with people like Oleg Kondratenko, Owen Pallett, and French duo Ibeyi among the credited writers.
While we hope we won’t have to wait another six years for a follow-up, Lahai offers plenty to occupy ourselves with for now.
