Buy Now
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Oct 30, 2023If anything, if the record has a fault, it’s that sometimes the non-stop restlessness can distract from the subtler aspects of the songwriting, but generally, Sampha is able to deploy the intricacies of his production style to great effect.
-
Oct 27, 2023With its glitchy instrumental palette backing it, Lahai is a serene look to the future where Sampha can be at peace with his memories and can raise his family in a positive environment.
-
Oct 23, 2023‘LAHAI’ is an astral soul coda that whilst intimately rendered, doubles as a pledge for connection and interrelatedness. We needed this.
-
Oct 23, 2023Mainstream R&B fans may be baffled at various points, but there will be few more engrossing albums this year.
-
Oct 20, 2023LAHAI extends Sampha’s virtuosic career with a showcase of his limitless pool of influence, his songwriting ability, and, inevitably, his soul.
-
Oct 20, 2023While this is far less downcast, the joy, wonderment, and fond reminiscences in the songs are complicated by worry, uncertainty, and longing.
-
Oct 20, 2023Sampha’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.
-
Oct 19, 2023Duelling forces are wonderfully rendered in the sound palette that Sampha has pulled together here, with production assistance from El Guincho on a number of tracks. The presence of myriad other talents including Yussef Dayes, Yaeji, Laura Groves, black midi’s Morgan Simpson – to name just a few – emphasises the album’s underlying theme of communality.
-
MojoOct 19, 2023Lahai is less introspective and far from lonely, its persuasive positivity carried by a contained riot of euphoric synths, swelling violins, Chic guitars and skittering percussion. [Dec 2023, p.90]
-
Oct 19, 2023Lahai is a transformative album that explores themes like afrofuturism and magical realism across 14 tracks that span a multitude of genres, including soul, rap, jazz, dance, jungle and West African music. And it’s a record that’s as intimate as it is imaginative.
-
Oct 19, 2023Intriguing and affecting.
-
Oct 19, 2023No matter who it is, we know who Sampha is: a generational talent who has once again delivered a rich, emotional work for us to process. Lahai is phenomenal.
Awards & Rankings
There are no user reviews yet.