Daiana Feuer on July 31st, 2018

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“‘Sound Proof Heart’ is about the myriad ways our senses engage with love and life itself in a decidedly precarious world, while dancing between relationship biographical and relationship aspirational,” says Sal Masekela, aka Alekesam, of his new album, out Aug. 10 on Alpha Pup. “Time Lapse” is the second single he’s shared so far, carving a path to electronic soul enlightenment with harp and horn that skim off rolling waves of mellow groove.

Masekela reunited with childhood friend Sunny Levine to produce the record. He says they were raised as brothers by their (hugely talented) fathers Hugh Masekela and Stewart Levine, and that deep lifelong connection created magic in the studio. “We speak in a language where we finish each other’s sentences in an abstract manner,” says Masekela. “It’s something we learned from mimicking the way our fathers spoke to each other from the time we were little. It lends itself to writing songs. Knowing each other our whole lives allows for us to really soul-mine. You have to be truly vulnerable or you’re going to be called out by one of the only people in your life you can’t lie to.”

The album materialized while Masekela was recovering from heartbreak, a process that he says took three years and inspired this notion of a “sound proof” heart. “It was the life learning experience at a soul level that fueled much of this record,” he says. “You get your heart broke a couple of times, you get to be a real protectionist about giving it up. You give up all of your body, space and time, yet work overtime to convince yourself that you’re safe. An actual soundproof heart is a wild idea in the infinity discussion called love. A probable impossibility.”

||| Stream: “Time Lapse” and “Vagabond”