London-based singer, producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist SG Lewis releases his highly anticipated debut album, times, out now via Republic Records. The release will be celebrated tonight by an exclusive live performance of the record, complete with special guests, exclusive VIP content and fan live chat – tickets are available now via Dice.fm.
For his debut album, SG Lewis (real name Sam Lewis) has enlisted a blockbuster collection of guests, continuing a long line of stellar collaborations that have singled him out as one of music’s most sought after producers.
Joining Robyn and Channel Tres (“Impact“) on times is Lucky Daye, who appears on “Feed the Fire” which Billboard lauded as “effervescent” and a “breezy amalgamation of house and nu-disco,” with Entertainment Weekly bluntly labeling it “a disco-tinged banger,” as well as collaborations with Rhye, Frances and Lastlings, whose contributions are destined-to-be future dancefloor staples. Also appearing on the album, the latest single, “One More” featuring the legendary Nile Rodgers which The New York Times calls “a dance party” with V Magazine hailing it as “slick and effortlessly cool.”
Speaking about this iconic collaboration, Nile Rodgers reveals, “SG and I have been working together at my home away from home, Abbey Road, for a couple of years now. I love how effortless and cool this song is. The awesome Julian Bunetta and John Ryan wrote on this with us and killed it!”
Sam adds, “One More was the first song I wrote for this record in LA, and one that set me on the path to making this whole album. Working with Nile Rodgers was an experience which will stay with me for the rest of my life. To have someone who has influenced not only this album, but my entire career play on this song is mind blowing.”
While learning from, and working with others has always been key to Sam’s music, the times era is, more than ever before, one defined by Sam’s own voice. His Dusk,Dark, and Dawn Eps, released between 2018-2019, taught him “what I was proud of and what fulfilled me.” It was on Dusk track “Coming Up” that he showed off his vocals for the first time, something he plans to do much more on the new project. “It has made me uncomfortable but in a really good way,” he says of feeling major imposter syndrome throughout the process. “I knew it needed work and that excited me. I’ve always taken pleasure in working at something until I was good at it.”
This has led to a much more personal period of creativity, with Sam’s personality present in every sound, from production to vocals. “I never understood what people meant when they said writing is cathartic but now I totally get it,” he says. “It’s a great way to get things off your chest. Now, for the first time, I’m able to put my own experiences into lyrics and deliver them myself.”
The album – markedly stylized in lowercase – arrives after a year when ‘times’ have been few and far between, especially in contrast to a huge 2019 which saw him sell out headline shows across the US, Asia, Australia and Europe as well as appearing at prime slots from Coachella to Glastonbury. It was a string of live experiences that cemented his status as not just one of London’s hottest talents but also a formidable artist capable of making a splash on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.
On the album, Sam says “times is an ode to the present moment. 2020 has shown us that the experiences we took for granted in the past, are never promised tomorrow, and that the opportunity to dance together may not always be there again. After reading about 70’s New York and the birth of Disco, I became infatuated with the euphoria and escapism that the music from that period created, and the safe spaces the clubs at the time provided for people to express themselves. I aimed to create a world musically that captured those same feelings, and to imagine the music that would be playing in those rooms if they were to exist today.”
About Author
