Sampha - Process
Sampha - Process
Listening to Process, it becomes obvious that Sampha is dealing with something. That he's undergoing an in depth self-examination or emotional reckoning. The soundscape he builds - of haunting flecks of distant voices and piano beneath his inventive electronics - is so clearly designed to evoke a stream of consciousness or an intense meditation. The listener can't help but be pulled right in to the singer-songwriter's internal struggle.
So, I wasn't surprised to read that the "process" of the title is the grieving process, and that Sampha wrote and recorded the album while his mother was battling the cancer that claimed her life. It sounds like it might be depressing, but this record is anything but sad. Somber and serious, yes. But it's ultimately just soulful. His voice does a lot of the heavy lifting on that front: full of charisma with it's attractive rasp.
It's a album meant to move, but it's also musically brilliant. Sampha is constantly making unusual and unlikely choices, making this a record for both the heart and the mind.
Stream in full below via Bandcamp.
Highlights: Plastic 100°C • Blood On Me • Under
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