L.A. Salami releases new single ‘Systemic Pandemic’

‘Systemic Pandemic’ is the new single from L.A. Salami and the second to be revealed from his upcoming fourth album ‘Ottoline’, set for release by Sunday Best on 14th October. The track follows the release of ‘Desperate Times, Mediocre Measures’, which was premiered by Craig Charles on BBC6Music and awarded 8/10 on Steve Lamacq’s Round Table.

The single is brimming with fresh ideas and arresting imagery and musically sits at the intersection of the folk leaning sound of previous albums and the inspiration L.A. Salami has found in the titans of modern rap; Kanye West, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Lyrically, ‘Systemic Pandemic’ is a song about love, best explained by Lookman himself.

“Sometime not too long ago, I came across an abyss... I looked upon it in anguish, painfully uninspired by the view. I didn’t like it. It made me uncomfortable, and the sight of it amounted to nothing... Nothing but the absence of love in all things... The absence of attraction, the seed of love. The dispersion of any gravity. The absence of all matter and purpose... Truth say, it was all rather boring...I perish the thought of returning there even to revisit in memory... So I'll do now what I did then; I avert my gaze - Redact my time spent in shadow - Allow a light some chance at forcing the darkest regions to abate. Light is life is love; and life is complicated; and this song, The SYSTEMIC PANDEMIC, is song about life, and how complicated it can become even in the midst of love.”

L.A. Salami’s journey of self-discovery is one that extends far beyond music. Born Lookman Adekunle Salami in Peckham, to a Nigerian mother and absent father, various circumstances meant he spent the first few years of his childhood in a foster home. This feeling of being an outsider permeates his creative output, whether that’s music or the prints he produces alongside.

Working with a vastly expanded sonic palette, Ottoline finds Lookman looking to some of the modern titans of rap for inspiration, Kanye West, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Whereas previous releases have leant towards a more folk-lead sound, Ottoline is brimming with boundless creativity and experimentation and is certain to cement L.A. Salami as one of the UK’s most fascinating independent artists.

LISTEN TO SINGLE 'SYSTEMIC PANDEMIC'

WATCH VIDEO HERE