Premiere: Sam Wills Combines Smooth Funk With Late Night R&B Grooves

Sam Wills — a name you’ll know from his collaborations with Tom Misch and Jordan Rakei, as well as his writing for Jorja Smith — has spent much of the lockdown period tucked away in his home studio, putting the finishing touches to his debut album (due early next year), and today sees the release of one of the key tracks from the project, “Undercover”.

For now, details of the album remain under wraps although the luxurious late night single — a song about the added heat that comes from meeting a lover in secret — suggests the rest of the album will be a passionate, funk-tinged collection of R&B. Given his history of working with the best and brightest in jazz and R&B, it’ll be interesting to see who else has contributed to the album besides co-writer and producer Phairo.

Speaking over email, Wills explained the track’s construction: “Undercover started with the bass line, a few months before starting work on the album. Phairo and I built a groove around it and then I sat with it for many weeks before committing to writing the melody and lyrics, as I wanted something that was going to do the beat justice, which was quite daunting! I finally faced up to it during a month-long stint in the studio that Phairo and I spent between my small setup in Hastings and the studio at the bottom of his garden in west London.”