New Music Friday: Stream new projects from Sampha, Lost Girls, Evian Christ, and more

It's been six long years since Sampha released Process, though it's not often that his voice is entirely absent from the world. In the interim period between albums, he has appeared on songs with Kendrick Lamar, Mustafa, and Drake. Those guest appearances spotlight his voice, a delicate and bruised croon that will put him at the front of the queue for collaborations forever more. It's on his own music, though, that he digs a little deeper. Much has changed for Sampha since 2017 and Lehai deals with two of the most likely reasons for his extended absence. He talks about the birth of his daughter on "Can't Go Back," one of a collection of drum and bass-indebted tunes that look to mess with the smooth vibes playlist world Sampha's voice could easily be co-opted by. Elsewhere, however, a darkness sits over his creativity as he struggles to write songs that once flowed out of him. Talk of demons and things turning chronic lead to "What If You Hypnotise Me?" ("please articulate my anguish, please explain to me why," he sings in the direction of a therapist). The arrival of the album suggests that the hard times were, thankfully, temporary. Here's hoping album number three is easier to arrive at. — David Renshaw

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music

On 2022’s Classic Objects, Jenny Hval siphoned her surreal, stream-of-consciousness storytelling into relatively straightforward song structures. It helped her lyrics hit with an unprecedented clarity. Selvutsletter, her second album with guitarist/producer Håvard Volden as Lost Girls, takes a page from that playbook. Their debut LP, Menneskekollektivet, comprised sprawling club tracks with abstruse messages. But the new project’s reference point is rock, forcing a more concise, directed approach.

The record’s first two songs make the best case for this method: “Timed Intervals” is a self-examination so microscopic that when Hval’s voice cracks in the first titular refrain, it’s like a bomb exploding in a snowglobe. And “With the Other Hand” is a second-person narrative that places the listener in the middle of the action with filmic precision. Volden’s arrangements are essential to the success of both cuts, acting sometimes as straightforward accompaniment, but often as emotional counterpoint.

Elsewhere, the record returns to more contemplative settings, like the organ swells of the zoomed-out state of the union “World On Fire,” and the liberating dance groove of the Swedish-language “Jeg Slutter Meg Selv” (“I Quit Myself”), which begins with a deep exhale. — Raphael Helfand

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

The Evian Christ of 2014 was all about the body highs. The four tracks on his debut EP Waterfall, released on Tri Angle, were severe, industrial trap music as obnoxious as they were innovative — it was immediately apparent why Kanye West drew him into the stable of producers for Yeezus. Evian Christ seemed to reject this momentum, releasing singles and productions for other artists sparingly, shifting his focus towards DJing and a club night called TranceParty. The liberation of the rave is all over Revanchist, arriving after nearly a decade and representing a total creative renaissance for Evian Christ. He doesn’t leave behind the intensity of his breakout songs, but that power is balanced with a new serenity and compositional acumen. The thrilling fusions of trance, drum and bass, and chillout on Revanchist reward deep listens while pumping the blood: The cinematic lead single “On Embers” is sweeping Pure Moods melodies over guttural, alien percussion. And the seven-minute, Merely-featuring “With Me” is a heart-aching ambient techno epic wrapped around a transcendent explosion of rave. — Jordan Darville

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

On his second full-length project of 2023, the raspy-voiced Chicago rapper continues to blaze his own unique trail. After a brief stint with G.O.O.D. Music — one of the very last rappers signed to the troubled label during Pusha T’s tenure as its president — Valee re-introduced himself as a thoroughly independent artist, who confidently moves between scenes and styles, from cut-throat raps to romantic bangers. The wide range of guests featured on VALEEDATION highlight the full spectrum of Valee’s taste: plugg innovator Tony Shhnow slides through for a retro-tinged synthpop duet on “Yo Yo,” while Pink Siifu joins Valee for a verbal sparring session on “Creme da la Creme.” In another life, producer and regular collaborator MVW was a minimalist composer named Michael Vincent Waller, and his classical training rears its head in the gentle piano loops and subtle strings woven throughout the album. — Nadine Smith

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music