Labi Siffre’s music has remained a vital piece of the UK’s folk-music ecosystem. But until this week, he hadn’t shared much new music in 28 years. After releasing a handful of albums in the 1970s, including the perfect Crying Laughing Loving Lying and its Top 20 hit “It Must Be Love,” Siffre recorded sporadically in the ensuing two decades before sharing his then-aptly-titled The Last Songs in 1998. In 2020, he released the single “(Love Is Love Is Love) Why Isn’t Love Enough?” Now, he’s announced his return to the spotlight with the also aptly-titled Unfinished Business, which is to come out sometime later this year via Demon Music Group, and shared the single “Far Away.”
“Far Away” isn’t totally new; part of it was featured in the 2022 BBC documentary Labi Siffre: This Is My Song. But Siffre brought the track (along with “My Song” and a cover of the Four Tops’ “Baby I Need Your Loving”) to the BBC Radio 2 Piano room, with the BBC Radio Orchestra behind him, to deliver a powerful rendition—a big deal, considering that Siffre’s live performances are a rarity. But Siffre’s voice captivates here; his singing gracefully carries through “Far Away” just as it did through “Bless the Telephone” and “My Song.” I hope that his recent sync in Sentimental Value and his storybook presence in rap sampling (Eminem’s “My Name Is” and Kanye West’s “I Wonder,” just to name a few) will open the door for a proper 21st-century resurgence. The man certainly deserves all of the praise we can give him, if only because of the promise he made to us 53 years ago: “As long as I live I’ll sing my song for you.”
Check out the music video for “Far Away” below.
