The Vernon Spring
The Vernon Spring is the recording project of North London-born musician Sam Beste, whose journey traces various arcs across jazz, soul, ambient, and songwriting modes. Beste’s earliest exposure to music came from his father’s eclectic record collection, which ranged from Thelonius Monk to Bob Dylan, D’Angelo to Luigi Nono. At age eleven, a chance piano lesson set Beste in a pivotal direction, prompting an ongoing passion for improvisation that shaped his life’s trajectory.
Beste’s dedication and talent placed him in Amy Winehouse’s orbit, whom he accompanied as her live pianist for the majority of her ascendent career. Their pairing paved the way for other significant and diverse collaborations, including work with Gabriels, Kendrick Lamar producer Sounwave, Beth Orton, Kano, Joy Crookes, Matthew Herbert, and MF DOOM.
After years of writing and releasing music with the alt-soul outfit Hejira during his mid-twenties, Beste helped form the Lima Limo collective and label, which offered a supportive community and inspiring creative foundation. By 2019, he began releasing solo music as The Vernon Spring, developing a voice that merged his jazz background with contemporary electronic production. His debut EP and subsequent releases, including the acclaimed A Plane Over Woods and Earth, On A Good Day, established a signature sound for The Vernon Spring: ethereal piano work layered with emotive vocals and subtle electronics.
Under a Familiar Sun, The Vernon Spring’s new album showcases the breadth of Beste’s artistic evolution. Emerging from a long period of compositional and process-based experimentation, the album represents a shift from his familiar and immediate production to a more involved and intricate approach. While working with producer Iko Niche on the album, Beste broadened his sonic landscape, integrating hip-hop influences and sample-driven methods while sustaining his characteristic piano composition throughout.
The album, produced and mixed predominantly in Beste’s studio, also features dynamic contributions from several collaborators, including writer Max Porter—whose poem on “The Breadline” inspired a conceptual frame for the entire album—cellist Kate Ellis, whose instinctive arrangements added immersive layering and depth, and Brooklyn-based vocalist, producer, writer, and astrophysics PhD candidate aden, whose spellbinding performances and songwriting appear throughout the album.
Currently based in Brighton with his partner and three sons, Beste realised Under a Familiar Sun as an intimate exploration of domesticity as well as a wider meditation on responsibility in a time of palpable uncertainty. The album showcases an artist working across new spheres of sonic potential, merging personal devotion and moral consciousness, and represents a profound offering, where perceptions reverberate in shimmering new light.
Recent years have seen The Vernon Spring’s music generate an organically expanding audience. Under a Familiar Sun orients the project towards a new phase of innovation, marking a significant moment for Beste, a distinctive voice in contemporary experimental music.
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