L.A. Salami is back with new single and video “Desperate Times, Mediocre Measures”, the first taste of new music from the Londoner since 2020’s album The Cause of Doubt and Reason to Have Faith. It arrives alongside the announcement of L.A Salami’s fourth album Ottoline, set for release on September 30th, 2022 via Sunday Best Recordings.

The single and its video tackle the “cyclical and corrosive nature of power structures across our societies” and the inevitable impact that has on our day to day lives and decision-making processes. Ultimately, the song encourages people to build change from a place of love and positivity, rather than out of fear. T

L.A Salami’s journey of self-discovery is one that extends far beyond music. Born Lookman Adekunle Salami in Peckham, to a Nigerian mother and absent father, various circumstances meant he spent the first few years of his childhood in a foster home. This feeling of being an outsider permeates his creative output, whether that’s music or the prints he produces alongside.

Working with a vastly expanded sonic palette, Ottoline finds Lookman looking to some of the modern titans of rap for inspiration, Kanye West, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Whereas previous releases have leant towards a more folk-lead sound, Ottoline is brimming with boundless creativity and experimentation and is certain to cement L.A Salami as one of the UK’s most fascinating independent artists.

Sitting here just sipping on a Courvoisier,

Slipping deeper into a suspicion

That everything ends the same…

Each man might have a mission

To just advance his position –

Any fault on a decision

The competition’s to game.

How much kindness is left at the top though

When you have a say of a child’s fate

100 miles away?

Power can only make power stop,

So there seems to be a monopoly of power

In every type of way.

Old ideas can’t simply step aside

When they built the rules

In which our world resides.

And, hence, the cost of possessing the eyes

That witness the confines

And qualities of time.

The weight of truth that’s really not benign

When you possess the eyes

that create their own divine.

Be glad to simply be given the time

To cultivate the love

By which we must survive.

Consciousness could simply be caution

Confined in constant etymologies of thought

In proportion to what is displayed –

Experience – an inherent inheritance –

A defence against all the questions

The gift of foresight can’t help but display.

How much can you trust mans at the top though

When he makes a play for a piece of land

100 miles away?

What good is left when you get to the top though

when you have a say of decisions made

100 miles away?

Does he have mind to concede his place though

When position pays in the workings of this game?

Will he let you supersede his place? NO!

He’ll put you on the payroll

And send you on your way.

Old ideas can’t simply step aside

When they built the rules

In which our world resides.

And, hence, the cost of possessing the eyes

That witness the confines

And qualities of time.

The weight of truth that’s really not benign

When you possess the eyes

that create their own divine.

Be glad to simply be given the time

To cultivate the love

By which we must survive.

Pre-order Ottoline by L.A. Salami HERE