GRAMMY-nominated East African vocalist and songwriter Somi has released “Sometimes Love (feat. The Cavemen.),” a vibrant new single from her upcoming album, What Does It Take to Bloom?, arriving 7 August via Salon Africana.
Joined by the critically acclaimed Nigerian sibling duo The Cavemen., Somi delivers a groove-heavy love song that transports listeners to the intoxicating heat of Lagos, where the track was recorded.
Regarding the inspiration behind the single, Somi notes: “This song is about keeping an open heart and the possibility of finding love – in all its forms – at any moment in our journey.”
You can stream/download “Sometimes Love” HERE.
A Meditation on Growth and Change
The new album, co-produced by The Cavemen.’s Benjamin James, takes a contemporary approach to heritage-centered sound.
It weaves global sensibilities into an intimate meditation on uncertainty and change, asking whether growth is something we recognize as it happens, or only once we have been transformed.
“Sometimes Love” follows the album’s lead single, “We’re All Falling.” As one of the project’s most affecting songs, “We’re All Falling” was written during a season of personal loss.
It confronts mortality with striking clarity, reflecting on the fragility of life and calling for listeners to give themselves the grace to heal and live in the moment.
Somi is Mapping the Self
For Somi, every album is an act of place-making. While her previous catalog has mapped migration, memory, and the cultural bridge between Africa and America, What Does It Take to Bloom? shifts the terrain.
Written and recorded between Dakar, Lagos, Paris, and New York City, the place being mapped this time is the self.
Somi continues to defy categorization, embracing a hybrid of jazz, soul, highlife, spoken word, and her African heritage. This album marks a notable evolution in her sound, finding her taking greater vocal risks and trusting her instincts more deeply. By abandoning the need to fit inside any artistic box, she finds that the refusal itself is a form of blooming.
Ultimately, the album is grounded in the search for belonging. Recognizing that the journey toward wholeness is rarely linear and always unfinished, Somi explores facets of womanhood and self-discovery that make her bloom. She hopes listeners will find themselves within the music, or at the very least, witness her coming home to herself.
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