Last summer, nearly six years on from his last project, Save Yourself, enigmatic club king SBTRKT returned with a trio of singles—but then he went quiet again. Then, right at the end of the year, he resurfaced once more with “Forward”, the first in a series of singles, which brings us to his most recent outing, “L.F.O.”, a collaboration with Sampha and George Riley. As it turns out, he’s been gathering momentum toward a new album: The Rat Road (due May 5).
A quirky slice of experimental soul, it pairs off-kilter, staccato bleeps with George and Sampha’s smooth, rich vocal tones for the win. As the producer explains in a statement, he and Sampha actually first started work on “L.F.O.” back in 2018 and there have been roughly 70 different versions of the track before they connected with George and the track reached its final form.
“‘L.F.O.’ began with me messing around with an analog synth about six years ago—the track title stuck,” said SBTRKT. He went on to explain that “the opening chords became my breakthrough moment, which captured that feeling when chords and melodies feel like they float.”
It’s been eight, long years since SBTRKT has been on the road, but—along with the new single—he’s announced a very small string of live shows in London, New York and LA. Whether or not you’re successful in grabbing yourself a ticket, at least we all have “L.F.O.” to be enjoying.
