Sampha has returned with episodes of ‘Wave Therapy’ on Apple Music 1, with singer and producer Romy joining Sampha on the new episode. Romy joins Sampha on ‘Wave Therapy’ on a cover of Andre 3000's ‘Me & My (To Bury Your Parents)’.
The show captures a conversation between the two during a studio session when The XX member was in the midst of recording her debut solo album ‘Mid Air’, released last year on Young.
As long-time friends and having shared similar experiences with loss, they discuss a variety of topics that both can relate to. Topics covered during their conversation include the loss of their parents, grief and having someone to empathise with, the meaning behind particular songs and how different aspects affect the lyrics to their melodies, as well as opening up on producing music and their creative processes.
They also collaborated on a special cover of Andre 3000’s ‘Me & My (To Bury Your Parents)’ with Sampha explaining: “That song really hit me deep as I’d already made my own song ‘No One Knows Me (Like the Piano)’ which was about my mother and there was times where I questioned releasing and writing a song that was so personal to me…and hearing one of my favourite musicians meditate on his loss of losing his parents made me feel okay to express myself in this way.”
Sampha introduces ‘Wave Therapy’ and his relationship with Romy…
I’ve known Romy a while and she’s someone who I can talk to about certain things and we’ve been through similar things and similar experiences, she’s lost her parents and so have I and she was, I guess, someone who’s spoken about this stuff and I think she wanted to talk to someone who has done that and I guess we kind of had this conversation out in the open. You know the reason I called my album ‘Process’ is because sometimes it’s good to externalise things and create a dialogue and you might find yourself, somewhere a little bit more enlightened potentially or even sometimes it’s just nice to have someone to empathise with or sympathise with.
In the studio session we did a cover of Andre 3000’s ‘Me & My (To Bury Your Parents)’ and yeah that song really hit me deep because I’d made my own song called, ‘(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano’ which was about my mother and I kind of felt, I wouldn't say as guilty but I questioned, you know, releasing and writing a song that was so sort of personal to me. But at the time I really couldn’t think about anything else, it was just what was coming out of me. Hearing one of my favourite musicians also meditate on his feelings of loss and just how that relationship with your parents can be it made me feel (kind of) heard and okay to express myself in this way. Not necessarily everybody has to do but that’s how I felt like processing some of my grief and, I feel like Romy has been in a similar place so it was a special song to cover together.
Romy discusses grief and admiring the way Sampha opened up about his experience dealing with…
I just had an afternoon where I was like “I’m going to tidy my flat”, and I found this book, something that my Grandma on my Dad’s side had wrote for me, just after my Mum passed away. My Mum passed away when I was 11 and I only got this poem after my Grandma died which was a few years ago, she kept it and it's just this really beautiful depiction of a young girl with a kite who’s supposed to be my mum and how the kite got tangled, and then she meets my Dad and their kite gets tangled and then it's sort of, then it works out and all this stuff and I was just in tears, and I thought it was just beautiful. I felt moved and I allowed myself to just go to that place because so often you just keep yourself busy and don’t think about it and then it was just on my mind a little bit and you know when the idea of us doing this together, I was like thinking it just like happened to be that day that I’d had that, and then I wanted to ask you if you were interested in talking about grief, because i don’t know that many people that have you know, and I really admire the way you’ve spoken in interviews before and parts that I’ve heard you be really brave about talking about it really inspired me to be a bit more vocal about it.
Sampha and Romy discuss what it's like to think of a lost family member…
Sampha: I just sometimes believe that they’re connected or I just, I just feel their personality come through in that moment. Sometimes I imagine if, you know, when I won the Mercury - I just imagine like, the work my Dad would've had to put in for that to happen or you know, how proud my Mum would be. Or if they’re on the other side you know. I’m thinking about sometimes it's how I kind of remember their personalities through these stories I like telling myself about how they're doing.
Romy: I thought about you (when you won the Mercury) and obviously your mum and everything, and I was there and I felt so proud and happy for you. .. It is really special to have those exciting moments where you can think about them (your parents). Do you have a place you go, do your parents have like a stone or like a place like is there anywhere you can go to see them?
Tracklist:
SAULT - Waterfalls
Andre 3000 - Ninety Three 'Til Infinity and Beyoncé
Vanishing Twin - The Age of Immunology
Joni Mitchell - Edit and the Kingpin
Steve Miller Band - Space Intro 1
Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where the Time Goes
BadBadNotGood - Hedron
Andre 3000 - Me & My (To Bury My Parents)
Duval Timothy - Wood (Feat. Yu Su)
Yussef Dayes - Turquoise Galaxy
Nubya Garcia - Stand With Each Other (featuring Ms MAURICE, Cassie Kinoshi, Richie Seivwright)
The XX - Brave For You
Mk.Gee - Dream police
Andre 3000 - I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a 'Rap' Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time
Andre 3000 - Me & My (To Bury My Parents) (Sampha & Romy Cover Version)
