Sampha Lahai Young review
Music, Sounds

Sampha, Lahai: REVIEW

by Dave MacIntyre

“Though his debut was a monumentally daunting act to follow, Lahai is a considerable artistic step forward for Sampha.”

Sampha, Lahai (Young)

Patience is a virtue. Six years after Sampha’s phenomenal 2017 debut album Process, the South London singer-songwriter is back in fine form with a stellar album, a more electronic-focused progression upon his forward-thinking take on soul and R&B. Certain songs — especially in terms of rhythm — feel a lot more skittering and chaotic in nature from a production standpoint, not unlike the stuff he’s done over the years with SBTRKT. His songwriting ability hasn’t wavered, as evidenced by excellent singles “Spirit 2.0” and “Only,” while “Dancing in Circles” is a paranoid, piano-driven number — complete with a rap break! — that’s also among the album’s highlights. Though his debut was a monumentally daunting act to follow, Lahai is a considerable artistic step forward for Sampha, and a superb body of work in general. 9/10 Trial Track: “Only”

“Only” by Sampha from the album Lahai

For more on Sampha, please visit his website.

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Posted in Music, Sounds

by Dave MacIntyre

Contributing editor for Music
Dave MacIntyre is a Montreal-based freelance journalist. His primary topic of interest is music, but is equally comfortable writing about sports, current events, and Montreal-related initiatives. Outside of Cult MTL, his bylines can be found in publications like BeatRoute and Northern Transmissions. And no, he is not related to Reba, nor to the WWE wrestler Drew, nor to Joey from New Kids on the Block.