Graphic by Andrew Mazariegos-Ovalle
Softness hushes from the trees. The green leaves sway to the breeze. I watch the clouds move in the quiet blue sky. I lay on the ground, the grass tickles my shirt. Clouds moving to the air’s melody. How beautiful. How still everything feels.
“And we’re in need of some tenderness.” The words are sung, broken, desperate, so calm, so still. The piano is played carefully with each note marking the singer’s anguish. Like raindrops breaking on one’s skin. It’s so quiet.
“Like sun rays through a flying cloud.” The wind has taken me. I am now a cloud finding my way to the sun. And yet the words he sings are so heavy.
“Did we have to be so featherless? When skeletons came pouring out?” Yet how light everything feels, the words dance like petals. The breeze lifts me, gently swaying my limbs.
“How about we fly towards the source again?” The beat drops. I’m soaring, chasing the sun. I’m pulled out of an unknown existential dread. My future is sitting next to the sun. It’s blurry, it’s blinding but it’s there, right where I’m headed. How beautiful. How still everything feels.
Sampha Lahai Sisay, or just Sampha, is an artist you either don’t know but love or know and love. He’s known for delicate electronic/R&B ballads, songs about existential dread, and taking way too long to release new music. Not to sound cliché, but he’s your favorite artist’s favorite artist. His music is melodic, heartbreaking, and so meticulously crafted it could bring you to tears. I suggest “Process” as a starting point, but if you want to jump ahead, listen to “Lahai.” He’s currently on tour for this album and coming to Minneapolis on April 6. Also, if you, like, want to give me a ride to his concert, or something, you should, like, email me.
