Lahai was released to widespread critical acclaim. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 21 on the UK Albums chart and number 1 on the UK R&B Albums chart.
Background
On 28 June 2023, Sampha released "Spirit 2.0" as the album's lead single, his first solo track in over six years.[8] On 24 August, he announced the album and its title.[7] He explained the album's title, writing:
On 6 September, he released the album's second single, "Only".[6] In September 2023, the Lahai Tour was announced in support of the album, beginning on 29 October 2023 in San Francisco and ending on 7 December 2023 in Paris.[6] In January 2024, Sampha announced an extension of the tour, set to begin on 23 February 2024 in Auckland and end on 26 April 2024 in London.[9]
Themes and composition
Following the critical success of his debut, Process, which explored themes of loss, Lahai marks a shift to a more optimistic space inspired by fatherhood.[10]
Raised in a family with Sierra Leonean roots, Sampha's musical influences range from Todd Edwards to Groove Armada. In describing his creative process, he speaks of drawing out "the general idea [he's] angling at" and "circling back to add color and texture." 2017's Process showcased a global sound palette, blending grime, African folk, jazz, and R&B. In Lahai, Sampha refines this fusion, seamlessly merging live soul music with synthesizers and drum machines. He explains, "I wanted to create a space that felt free, to try stuff out without the expectations of a huge headline show."[10]
The album revolves around Sampha's reflections on human connection as a son who lost his parents and is now a father. Songs such as "Can't Go Back" and "Spirit 2.0" highlight his exploration of orchestral jungle and technical sophistication, while maintaining the gossamer vocals that have made him a sought-after collaborator. He reveals, "The hurt and anxiety shifts a little bit, from being worried about your own point of view to, 'How many years am I going to be around?' I want to help [my daughter] survive through life."[10]
Collaborating with Kwake Bass, Sampha sought to blur the lines between natural and mechanized playing, experimenting with live and electronic drums. The album delves into his broader interests, referencing subjects like Afrofuturism and particle physics. He mentions watching a documentary from which he drew inspiration, saying, "There's this astrophysicist Brian Cox talking about entropy and the reasons why traveling backward in time is much more difficult than how you can travel forward in time."[10]
As Sampha explains in an interview with Vulture, Lahai serves as an encapsulation of his growth from the "tape-hiss symphonies" of 2013's Dual to the "polyrhythmic odysseys" of 2017's Process, highlighting his commitment to personal growth, both physically and intellectually.[10]
Upon release, Lahai received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to mainstream critic reviews, the album received a score of 87 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[12] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album an 8.6 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[11]The Guardian's Alexis Petridis named it his album of the week and called it "jittery with anxiety and indecision, yet poised and luscious". Petridis wrote that the fact Sampha made another album instead of sticking to songwriting and "made an album as intriguing and affecting as Lahai – is worth celebrating".[3]Mojo described it as "less introspective and far from lonely, its persuasive positivity carried by a contained riot of euphoric synths, swelling violins, Chic guitars and skittering percussion".[16]
Reviewing the album for The Line of Best Fit, Riley Moquin called Sampha "a generational talent who has once again delivered a rich, emotional work for us to process" and described the album as "phenomenal" as its "remarkable second half pulls together the record as an expressionist painting of life's cyclical nature".[15] Elizabeth Braaten of Paste summarised Lahai as "a transformative album that explores themes like afrofuturism and magical realism across 14 tracks that span a multitude of genres", also finding it to be "as intimate as it is imaginative".[2] Rob Hakimian of Beats Per Minute praised the "dueling forces" in the album's themes, ranging from freedom, time, memory and grief.[19] Ben Jardine of Under the Radar praised the album's thematic inspiration from the novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull, writing that "The tale is an allegory for Sampha's own journey of self-discovery, of the initial limitations the world may place upon us, and how our tireless efforts to push those limitations may earn us criticism and self-doubt, but eventually, belonging, peace, and understanding."[4]
Writing for DIY, Chris Taylor concludes writing "Sampha's voice might be the most instantly recognizable piece of magic in his arsenal, but it's his patience and craft that makes Lahai such a stunning experience."[14] Cameron Cook of Pitchfork found the album to be "thematically dense, but never heavy", calling it "the cleansing shower that comes when it's finally time to wash all the dirt off, shedding layer after layer until all that's left is air".[18]
