One of the most frequent adversaries of humanity is time. Not only will it be indiscriminate, but it will also make the worst moments seem to last forever and cut the finest moments terribly short. Sampha is aware of this. During the recording of his debut album Process, he grappled with his mother’s death and ultimately came to terms with the fact that she would no longer be with him. Five years later, the British singer makes a comeback with Lahai, an album that is noticeably happier and portrays Sampha in a more positive and accepting light.In contrast to Process, which caught Sampha during the height of his grief, Lahai is a more restorative setting. Similar to his debut, he bases the project on family, but this time, the 34-year-old is more interested in his emotional healing and self discovery and being present in her young daughter’s life. The lead track, “Spirit 2.0,” serves as a spiritual safety net, appealing to the listener to hold onto something or someone while they’re losing hope and stress. Sampha sings on the hook, “Waves will catch you, Light will catch you, Love will catch you, Spirit gon’ catch you,” while the verses discuss how he went about mending after everything around him had failed.
The airy, breezy instrumentals give the impression that Sampha is finally breaking free from the grip that sadness had placed on him. He even makes reference to the Jonathan Livingston Seagull fable by Richard Bach, which depicts the seagull’s journey toward self-acceptance. The track that bears the bird’s name is the most direct example of the reference, which persists throughout the album. As he must leave his most familiar surroundings in order to rediscover his purpose, the song wrestles with healing and travel. Although they don’t necessarily express or process their pain in the same ways, he meets people on his journey who have experienced similar trauma (“Even though we’ve been through the same / Doesn’t always mean we feel the same”). Sampha finds himself thinking back on times he spent with individuals who were significant in his life as he fights his way through loneliness and misery to achieve his objective of self-acceptance. Lamenting his dissociation, he clings to the tender moments of dancing to the tastefully crafted “Dancing Circles” with his significant other.
English