Ahead of his headline performance at the Southbank Centre next month, musical polymath Sam Beste reflects on this year’s ‘Under A Familiar Sun’…
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Having explored genres ranging from jazz and soul to ambient and electronic, multi-instrumentalist Sam Beste is a musician who enjoys variety. Under his alias, The Vernon Spring, Beste has channeled his passion for layered pianos, minimal beats, and studio experimentation into a collection of experimental, introspective, and often profoundly moving works.
Following last year’s ‘Still,’ a collaboration with former Golden Silvers lead Gwilym Gold that emerged from three and a half hours of shared piano improvisation, ‘Under a Familiar Sun’ was released in May. This album marked a shift in Beste’s creative direction, incorporating hip-hop influences and sample-driven techniques alongside his signature piano compositions.
Mainly produced and mixed in Beste's Brighton studio, the album features input from multiple collaborators, including writer Max Porter, whose poem on ‘The Breadline’ served as a conceptual basis for the entire record. Cellist Kate Ellis also contributed, adding instinctive arrangements that brought immersive layers and depth. Furthermore, he rejoined forces with Brooklyn-based vocalist, producer, and writer aden, with whom he collaborated on 2024’s ‘Earth, On A Good Day.’
Beste accompanied Amy Winehouse as her live pianist for most of her career, gaining invaluable insight into her creative process. His jazz trio joined her on an international festival tour when he was just seventeen, a partnership that paved the way for a career that has included collaborations with artists such as Beth Orton, Kano, Joy Crookes, Matthew Herbert, and even MF DOOM.
Paul Weedon recently spoke to Beste about his latest project and his creative journey.
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You’ve referred to ‘Under A Familiar Sun’ as a love letter to your family while also grappling with the darker realities of the world today. How did you balance these two themes in the album?
‘Under a Familiar Sun’ is dedicated to my wonderful partner, Saoirse, and our three precious sons. Every note reflects my love for them and is rooted in a desire to create an environment that recognizes them as the miraculous beings they are—infinitely captivating and awe-inspiring like the moon circling the earth. They deserve to be heard, nurtured, protected, and loved without conditions.
I completed ‘Under a Familiar Sun’ during the early months of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, struggling to comprehend how we exist in a world where such appallingly horrific and unrelenting violence towards children is not only ignored by Western powers but also supported militarily, diplomatically, and through a mainstream media that often operates deceitfully. It’s heartbreaking to acknowledge that in this man-made nightmare, classrooms filled with children have been bombed daily over the last two years with US, UK, and German weapons, left to perish beneath rubble, or deliberately starved due to food being withheld at borders. Those who survive have suffered amputations without anesthesia, lost family members, and witnessed the near-total destruction of essential infrastructure like hospitals and schools.
The second-to-last track on ‘Under a Familiar Sun’ is titled ‘Requiem for Reem,’ serving as a prayer for these miracles taken too soon and for those who remain to face the unimaginable. Max Porter’s poignant poem on ‘The Breadline’ was directly inspired by this unfolding tragedy. In this sense, the album is framed by these complementary tracks that create a dialogue between familial love and moral obligation in a world where, as Nelson Mandela said, our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.
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You’ve previously mentioned that ‘art does not have to be political to evoke a political sensibility.’ Could you elaborate on how this idea influenced the tone and message of your album?
For me, it’s essential that politics are rooted in solidarity, a natural expression of care for one another that arises from an understanding of our interconnectedness. At a time when our humanity is being profoundly challenged—where grotesque violence against children has become normalized with the powerful turning a blind eye—there is an urgent need to re-sensitize ourselves, to thaw frozen hearts, and to revive our emotional and compassionate capabilities.
There’s a deep sonic memory woven throughout the album—drawing from your own childhood recordings to voice notes and samples. How do you perceive memory in your creative process?
In some cases, we were crafting instruments from discarded master tracks or failed projects, transforming past failures into something valuable. What excites me about sampling an entire master—as opposed to a single instrument—is the dense sonic and musical information encapsulated in each sample, comprising layers of texture, melody, rhythm, and harmony within a single sound. This aspect of hip-hop production has always intrigued me: bringing the past into the present through sampling. However, [producer] Iko [Niche] and I focused on sampling my own past recordings, not anyone else’s.
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In anticipation of his headline performance at the Southbank Centre next month, musical versatile Sam Beste contemplates this year's 'Under A Familiar Sun'...