Vagabon is an artist who resonates with authenticity, creativity and resilience. Born Lætitia Tamko in Cameroon and raised in New York City, she has emerged as a singular talent who captivates audiences with her meditative lyrics and otherworldly melodies. From working within the collective Phantom Posse to collaborating with producers such as Rostam and Teo Halm – and currently supporting Arlo Parks on her European tour - Vagabon is part of a impressive music community. And with her new album, ‘Sorry I Haven’t Called', she’s coming out with her most confident body of work yet. The deeply healing record draws on her personal experiences of grief and of a love affair during a time she was finding her way back to life. While the tracks ‘Autobahn’ and ‘Anti-Fuck’ define mourning a close friend in a world turned upside down, ‘Do Your Worst’ introduces an exultant dancefloor energy that grabs rapture with both hands. We spoke to Vagabon about the inspirational journey that led to the creation of this beautiful record.

How did you land on the title ‘Sorry I Haven’t Called’?

When I make demos, I’m always thinking about what the file name is, and this one was a text that I wrote. When I came to the end of the album-making process, I realised that it encapsulated that whole time of my life. It’s not apologetic, it’s the start of a sentence. I know I’ve been in away, in my own world, but I’m here now.

In what ways does the title speak to the music?

The album as a whole is meant to be a conversation, so whereas my other albums were more introspective, this one is more assured. I was really looking to find a mundane conversation and language, and that’s not without depth and complexity; it's the fact that we all have periods in our lives when we say ‘Sorry I haven’t called’ a lot, which is embodied in the record. I was fascinated by the way I have conversations with friends and lovers, and how I almost always want to record them because they’re so beautiful, or because I appreciate the beauty of how people speak and how they choose to use language.

A lot of this album was worked on in Germany, what took you there?

A dear friend of mine from my chosen family passed away in the summer of 2021, and I freaked out. It was the first time that I'd experienced grief so close to home, and it was life-shattering. His name was Eric Littmann and we were part of a New York collective called Phantom Posse, so his death rocked my personal world and my musical world. I found myself in a house in the German countryside because I needed to put myself in a foreign environment that was almost dreamlike in order to process what was going on, what was going to happen next, and who I was now.

What was the album making process like while you were there?

I had friends in Hamburg who drove up to come and stay with me. I set up a home recording studio with everything that I borrowed from them, and it was a really healing experience just to be present. I built a studio where I could be most comfortable working without the noise of my life. We were there for eight months just spending time together away, making home-cooked meals, and talking a lot, as one of them also knew grief intimately. It was good to be away from my world in order to create something romantic for myself. I’m so staunchly a balloon; I need to be in the clouds, I need to be dreaming, or I’m not alive, so it's almost survival. How do you create romance, happiness, and joy in despair? That’s what I needed to get through that first year without my friend.

Which song most connects you to the loss you were going through?

‘Anti-Fuck’ encapsulates my time in Germany. It was written in the morning after a very feverish night of chaos of the brain. So, it’s more than a song that reminds me specifically of Eric, but that reminds me of the place and the feelings that I was going through.

How is it to listen to the album now?

This is my third album, but it's the first one that I actually listen to as if it's just an album out in the world. The context of me as an artist is important too. To get why it's a triumphant one for me needs a little bit of context, but there were years where I didn’t think that I would make another album or if I had it in me to finish one. So, I feel nothing but really good things when I hear it now.

Musically, how have you changed since your last album, 2019’s self-titled ‘Vagabon’?

One of the things I hear the most about me as an artist is that I change with every album. Part of it is that I’m trying to discover where I want to land and stay for a while, and I feel like I have. With this album, I’ve reached a certain level of confidence in my writing, in my production, and in my voice. Listening to the last one, I have mixed feelings. I’m really proud of it. I think it takes a lot of guts to put something out in the world that will exist beyond you. So, no matter that I feel I could have done some things better, it exists as an archive of a time, and for that reason, it is important not diminish it at all.

And how have you changed personally in that time?

I was a lot more self-conscious then. I had my whole life to live, and the thought of that was daunting. I was really hard on myself. But now I only really care about three things: music as a form of happiness and with a sense of purpose; being healthy, physically and mentally; and community, which includes love and romance. I used to be on tour eight months out of the year, which takes away the healthy part. And I used to think that even though I’ve made so much work and toured all over the world, that maybe I just got lucky, which took out the joy. Now I have a newfound confidence. What I make will contribute to the world and have a purpose for longer than my body will be here.

What’s a song that you enjoy performing the most?

‘Autobahn’ because I’m really proud of how it came out and the raw emotion that’s still there when I perform it. Me and my friend Cacey (MQ) wrote it together and just wanted to get back to the pen and pad. I was talking to him about what was going on and the loss that we were feeling and confusion with people that we loved. It’s getting down to a type of songwriting that makes me excited – choosing every word meticulously and having it speak to how I feel.

What would you like listeners to take away from this album?

I want it to be the music that people listen to, and then if they revisit it in three years, they remember where they were when they heard it the first time. That’s my ultimate goal: that it be an album they can feel nostalgic about because it reminds them of being at university, or falling in love, or breaking up. But right now, I just want it to mean something and for people to give it a chance. For smaller artists like myself, it can be a job to convince people because we do have a lot more faith in our established artists. You know, of course, there’s something to this SZA record, for instance. Even if I don’t like it on the first listen, I’m going to keep listening to it because I know that it's good, and then end up loving it. That’s true for most music; if it gets enough of a chance, you'll be able to see what the artist intended, so in our fast-paced world, my dream for this album is that people listen to it and know that there’s something here.

‘Sorry I Haven’t Called’ by Vagabon is out now on Nonesuch Records. Discover it here.