Three albums into her career, Vagabon has found a radical new voice. The Cameroon-born, US-based singer-songwriter, real name Laetitia Tamko, came to prominence in 2017 with the dreamy, guitar-led soundscapes of debut album Infinite Worlds, which earned praise from indie stalwart Mitski. 2019’s self-titled follow-up continued in a similar vein, then Tamko dropped off the radar. Relocating to rural Germany, it was only after the death of her best friend in 2021 that she felt spurred on to create new work. Yet rather than simply transposing her sadness, Tamko’s latest record, co-produced with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, has taken a turn towards the communal joy and catharsis of the dancefloor.
The newly released Sorry I Haven’t Called traverses the earworming bass blips of electropop opener Can I Talk My Shit?, the two-stepping drums of You Know How and the drum’n’bass freneticism of Do Your Worst, ultimately finding comfort in movement. “It’s because things were dark that this record is so full of life and energy,” Tamko has said. “I didn’t feel like being introspective. I just wanted to have fun.” Her new direction forgoes solipsism, instead galvanising dancers within the thump of the club speakers. Together, she seems to say, is where we are strongest.
Sorry I Haven’t Called is out now on Nonesuch. Vagabon plays the Eventim Apollo, London, supporting Arlo Parks, on 28 September, and four further UK dates supporting Weyes Blood, 11-14 November
