Last week, during his Brooklyn residency Satellite Business, Sampha and his small band arranged themselves in a circle on an elevated platform, playing old favorites and unreleased songs to a dense, transfixed crowd. Experiencing his intimate music, dioramas of pain, joy, and understanding, felt like a beautiful hallucination. In that hallowed space, couples could sway and grown men hoot and cry without judgment.
Sampha and his band played “Spirit 2.0,” his gossamer new single and first solo music in six years. The song is gently anguished, as is his signature, and infused with the warm twinkle of his live performances. “Now I’m drifting into open skies/And I ain’t scared as before,” he says, sounding relieved at hurtling towards the unknown. His words are matched by plinky synths, swelling violins, and skittering drums that shift positions like puzzle tiles. “Spirit 2.0” gets at Sampha’s best qualities, his ability hit you in the chest while evaporating into the ether.
