Labi Siffre returns with first album in 28 years

Labi Siffre announces his first album in 28 years and shares new piano ballad ‘Far Away’ ahead of release

Labi Siffre is officially ending a 28 year wait. The 80 year old British folk musician has announced a brand new album titled Unfinished Business, marking his first full length release since 1998.

The upcoming record will arrive later this year via Demon Music Group and signals a significant return for an artist whose catalogue has quietly influenced generations. Alongside the announcement, Siffre has shared a new single, Far Away, a reflective piano ballad that leans into the soul inflections long present in his work. The track arrives with an accompanying music video and offers a gentle but assured reminder of his songwriting voice.

Siffre originally rose to prominence in the 1970s, releasing six albums in just five years, including the widely celebrated Crying Laughing Loving Lying. After stepping back from the spotlight, he returned intermittently in the 1980s and 1990s. His last studio releases, The Last Songs and the spoken word collection Monument, both arrived in 1998.

While this marks his first album in nearly three decades, Siffre has not been entirely absent. He released the single Love Is Love Is Love Why Isn’t Love Enough? in 2020, and a version of Far Away featured in the 2022 BBC documentary Labi Siffre: This Is My Song, though it had not received an official release until now.

In recent years, renewed interest in Siffre’s catalogue has grown, helped by prominent sync placements in films such as The Holdovers and Sentimental Value. Official social media channels dedicated to his music were also launched, introducing his work to younger audiences discovering his songs for the first time.

To promote the new album, Siffre made a rare live appearance in the BBC Radio 2 Piano Room, performing Far Away, My Song and a cover of the Four Tops classic Baby I Need Your Loving with the BBC Radio Orchestra.