Labi Siffre - 1970-1971 Labi Siffre

Singer, songwriter, humanitarian, activist, poet, philosopher, artist… as the music legend Labi Siffre releases his first album of new music in 28 years, Demon are celebrating where it all began with this 3CD set from his first days as a hitmaker.

To say Labi is enjoying something of a renaissance in 2026 is an understatement – last year saw him amass 21M streams for his plaintive love song ‘Bless The Telephone’ alone, driven in part by its featuring as the music for a viral ad campaign for the Bumble dating app.
In fact, the TikTok / Insta generation have responded in their millions to Labi’s music as featured in cult film ‘The Holdovers’ and iconic shows like ‘Dr Who’, ‘Better Call Saul’, and ‘Hacks’.

‘1970-1971’ brings together the first two studio albums ‘Labi Siffre’, and ‘The Singer And The Song’, plus a bonus disc of B-sides and rarities originally featured on the now-deleted ’My Song’ box set from 2020.

With self-penned songs like ‘Make My Day’ and ‘A Little More Line’ and sensitive covers of the Bee Gees’ ‘Words’ and Harry Nilsson’s ‘Maybe’, the debut, ‘Labi Siffre’, from 1970 showcased an obviously rare and special talent. Later that year’s follow-up, ‘The Singer And The Song’ was an even stronger set of entirely new compositions including ‘When I’m On My Own You Are On My Mind’, ‘Thank Your Lucky Star’ and, yes, ‘Bless The Telephone’.

In Labi’s future lay megahit covers by Madness (‘It Must Be Love’), anthems like ‘(Something Inside) So Strong’, samples by Eminem and Dr. Dre (on ’My Name Is…), and an ever-growing generation of Gen Z music fans.
But here is where it all began.