British singer and songwriter Sampha returned to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. It’s his second appearance following his 2017 performance.
In his latest Tiny Desk concert, Sampha treats viewers to material from his second album, Lahai.
He is joined by a four-piece band consisting of Blake Cascoe (drums), Ruthven (percussion), Rosetta (bass), and Elsas (keys/percussion).
Sampha opens his four-song set with “Spirit 2.0,” the album’s lead single. After formally introducing his band, Sampha continues his set with “Only” and “Dancing Circles,” which are also tracks on Lahai.
He closes out his set with “Without” from his 2013 EP, Dual.
Sampha released Lahai on Oct. 20 via Young. In an interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music, Sampha spoke about how he was processing grief while making the album.
“I was going through some once-in-a-lifetime things and losing someone who’s been with me for all my life, and going through that and having music as a canvas going through that time. And as I say, I always see it as a document, because there are some things that are really beautiful. Because the worst thing for me sometimes is forgetting how something feels or becoming numb or apathetic,” Sampha said.
He continued, “So for me, it’s a beautiful document of even the tough things I was going through or even the relationships or what me and my brothers went through, and I have that as a reminder. And even if it does bring off some difficult emotions, I’m happier that it’s there. It is a bit of time travel, I guess. It’s like a memory. And if anything, I still see myself in there, obviously.”
Lahai is the follow-up to Sampha’s 2017 debut album, Process. Last year, Sampha celebrated the album’s fifth anniversary with a deluxe edition containing two bonus tracks.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s listened and to everyone who helped make the album. I’ve added two tracks that were on the Japanese version!” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Watch Sampha’s Tiny Desk Concert and stream Lahai below.
