What to listen to now: Sampha, TSOL, a topical Spotify playlist and more

A weekly roundup of must-hear music recommended by Times staffers. This week’s picks include the solo debut from Sampha, a familiar face to fans of Drake and Solange, among others, as well as the return of veteran SoCal punks TSOL.

Sampha, “Process” (Young Turks)

This young British singer has established himself over the last few years as a kind of ghost in the machine with appearances on arty, futuristic soul songs by Drake, Solange, Frank Ocean and Jessie Ware. Yet the highlight of Sampha’s solo debut is “(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano,” a heartbreaking R&B ballad in which he pays loving tribute to his late mother, who died in 2016, amid ripples of bare-bones piano.

The song sounds like it could’ve been recorded decades ago, even as Sampha touches a wound that clearly hasn’t healed. — Mikael Wood

TSOL, “The Trigger Complex” (Rise Records)

Even within the fringe community of Southern California punk rock of the late-’70s and early-’80s, O.C.-Long Beach punk band TSOL was an outlier, quickly moving beyond the musical, thematic and sartorial elements that quickly became rigidly codified. Rebelling against all cultural conventions over time has served the long-running band well and continues to breathe life into its music nearly 40 years down the line.

Original members Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory and bassist Mike Roche are together again with longtime keyboardist Greg Kuehn and freshly recruited drummer Chip Hanna on a vibrant batch of new songs that still rail against conformity with slashing instrumental and lyrical fury, but also find room for the occasional “la-la-la” sing-along pop hook.

-- Randy Lewis

Bell Biv DeVoe, “Three Stripes” (Entertainment One)

Nearly 30 million viewers tuned into BET’s New Edition miniseries last week and splinter group Bell Biv DeVoe smartly timed the release of its new album, “Three Stripes,” to the film’s premiere. Though New Edition has sold millions of records, catapulted Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant to solo stardom, the success of BBD always felt particularly special. The members of the trio — Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe — were essentially supporting players in New Edition until the release of their phenomenal 1990 debut, “Poison.” The album was a new jack swing classic and the title track was a monster hit.

“Three Stripes,” the group’s first offering in 16 years, tries to capture some of the spirit from its early work as BBD opted for nostalgia rather than mining contemporary R&B pastiches. There’s beatboxing from Doug E. Fresh, production from Erick Sermon and DJ Battlecat, and appearances from SWV and Boyz II Men. The music is light and bouncy, but the album is mostly a reminder of what made the supergroup an R&B force.

— Gerrick D. Kennedy

Four Tet’s Spotify playlist

Of all the many stories that are emerging from the ban on U.S. travel from citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, the potentiality of missing out on excellent music isn’t necessarily at the top of list of primary concerns.

Yet Four Tet, the U.K. DJ and producer (who has played several of the best longform dance-music sets in L.A. in the last year), has compiled a massive playlist — now at 28 hours of music — of artists from those affected areas. It’s not only a reminder of what we may be forgoing on stages, but of the history that courses through those countries.

Among the highlights: the Syrian wedding jam “Wenu Wenu,” from Four Tet collaborator Omar Souleyman, as well as Iranian singer Martik Kanian’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise,” a reminder that a beautiful song transcends visa rules.

— August Brown

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