After unveiling his third studio album, “Fase Luna,” last year, Sam Eastgate, better known as LA Priest, is excited to announce his upcoming EP, “La Fusion,” set to release on May 3 through Domino.
With today’s announcement, he also drops the single “City Warm Heart,” showcasing LA Priest’s signature vibe and enhanced by the production skills of French touch maestro Alan Braxe. The song radiates a hopeful outlook on the future, tinged with a wistful yearning for the jungle’s escape. “I penned this track amidst the Costa Rican jungle, envisioning my return to global touring,” Sam shares. “It acts as a chant to brave the external world from such a secluded place.”
The music video for “City Warm Heart,” directed by Joseph Bird Jr, who previously collaborated with Sam on the “Beginning” video, transports viewers to a stunning, sometimes surreal, evergreen forest setting. Sam reveals, “I wanted to give a glimpse into my recording process and how I crafted this song. This video, recreating those moments as accurately as possible, offers a more genuine glimpse than my usual work.”
“City Warm Heart” can be viewed below:
“La Fusion” was conceived towards the end of Eastgate’s stay in the Costa Rican jungle, where he also wrote most of his celebrated 2023 album, “Fase Luna,” and later recorded in his garden shed studio in Wales using his custom-built drum machine, GENE. While “Fase Luna” served as a raw portal to another realm, “La Fusion” emerged during a period when Sam was contemplating his eventual reintegration into society, despite enjoying his isolation.
“Fusion cannot be mixed with something else,” Sam contemplates on his transition. “Fusion is the merger of realities. These are concepts I couldn’t have explored in the jungle. Perhaps they are songs of the city. I began with ideas formed from the outside looking in, and completed them from the inside looking out.”
Sam Eastgate, also known as Sam Dust, LA Priest, and L.A. Priest, has established himself as an innovative and elusive figure in music, known for his work with the now-defunct band Late Of The Pier, his beloved project Soft Hair with Connan Mockasin, and his solo endeavors as LA Priest. Following the release of “Fase Luna,” which Brooklyn Vegan hailed as “a chill trip,” he embarked on a successful series of shows in the UK and EU and supported BRIT award-winning duo Jungle, comprised of electronic producers J Lloyd and Tom McFarland, on their tours across Europe and the US.