Somi Opens a New Chapter With What Does It Take to Bloom? and “We’re All Falling”

Somi Returns With Deeply Personal Album “What Does It Take to Bloom?” and Lead Single “We’re All Falling”

After six years away from releasing original music, Rwandan-Ugandan artist Somi is making her long-awaited return with a project that feels as intimate as it is expansive. The multi-award-winning singer-songwriter has announced What Does It Take to Bloom?, a 13-track album set to drop August 7 via Salon Africana. Alongside the announcement, she’s gifted fans the album’s lead single, “We’re All Falling,” a meditation on loss, time, and the beauty of being present.

For those familiar with Somi’s artistry, you know she’s never been one to create surface-level music. What Does It Take to Bloom? continues that tradition, exploring themes of growth, identity, and finding home within yourself when everything around you shifts. The album was crafted across multiple continents—Dakar, Lagos, Paris, and New York City—each location leaving its imprint on the music. “I wrote this body of work while traversing many places and losing many people,” Somi shared. “This album is a mirror of searching for where and how to take root in spite of that. I pray these songs offer each listener a sense of Home or, at the very least, a witnessing of me coming Home to myself.”

The lead single “We’re All Falling” emerged from a particularly tender period in Somi’s life marked by personal loss. Rather than wallowing in grief, the track gently reminds us that life’s fragility is exactly what makes our moments together so precious. It’s a call to embrace grace and presence, even when—especially when—time feels like it’s slipping through our fingers. True to form, Somi doesn’t confine herself to one sound. Her catalog has always moved fluidly between jazz, soul, highlife, and spoken word, drawing from both her African roots and diasporic experiences. This new album amplifies that sonic range while giving her voice even more room to breathe and command attention.

The project also boasts some stellar collaborations, including Nigerian duo The Cavemen on “Sometimes Love” and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin on “So You Want to Be a Woman.” With a full tracklist that includes songs like “Throw Something,” “Sugar,” “Ngayaya,” and “Love Could Be Anywhere,” What Does It Take to Bloom? promises to be Somi’s most layered work yet. Stream “We’re All Falling” now and mark your calendars for August 7.

Stay connected with Afrobeat San Diego for the latest in global Afrobeats.