Lil Silva

Lil Silva is an artist confident enough to dip in and out of the limelight. His last sizable chunk of solo material, the sweet-sung JIMI EP, came out in 2016. In the interim, he’s collaborated frequently with George FitzGerald on the pair’s house-leaning OTHERLiiNE project, as well as helming studio sessions and writing songs with chart-scaling pop acts including Mark Ronson, Adele, and Diplo. The anthem status of his late noughties UK funky cuts ‘Seasons’ and ‘Pulse vs. Flex’ was as immediate as it has been enduring. Some songs are timeless; others will always feel like they’re coming from the future. This is, Lil Silva has discovered, his sonic trademark. The addition of his voice to his songs has only compounded this quality. 'Yesterday Is Heavy', a long-awaited debut album, sees Lil Silva inviting his listeners and his peers into the studio with him – and opening up new sides from them all. Silva glides alongside Skiifall over a popping and shuffling sun-up beat, Sampha and Ghetts reason between jazz rolls and meandering keys, while BADBADNOTGOOD gets a full funky Studio 54 groove on, and Little Dragon soar on a pulsing synth-pop cut. The constant is Silva’s voice – at turns ghostly, piercing, warm, and grounded – along with his deft, careful touch, and bounding creativity when it comes to song structures and acute arrangements.