Sampha - Process review: ‘The production is state-of-the-art’

Producer and singer Sampha Sisay has lent his falsetto and sparse-but-warm arrangements to Kanye West, Solange, Drake and Frank Ocean in recent years.

However, the 27-year-old from Morden (by way of Sierre Leone) has been so busy working on other people’s records that he’s only just channelled his talents into this remarkable debut.

The dominant mood is introspective, often desperately lonely — “There’s a fault in my structure,” he moons on Reverse Faults, but there’s drama and tension, too.

Blood on Me is an account of pursuit by grey hoodies, while Incomplete Kisses is a love song that slips out the door just when you’re hoping it will move in.

The production is state-of-the-art: you’ll want excellent speakers. He’s clearly someone for whom music itself is the escape — hence, of course, the title.

(XL)