“In 2020, after I dropped my first album, we were dealing with the global pandemic. Because of that, I didn’t get a chance to let The Worst Generation breathe on tour. And that hurt,” Che Lingo tells Apple Music. “I also lost my grandma, saw a relationship crumble, and developed an eating disorder after tearing a muscle in my leg. This sunk me further into the abyss. This album is my way of making sense of those 24 months. This is me finding dark in the light and light in the dark.” On Coming up for Air, the South Londoner’s pain is worn as armor, while rich chords and heady verses fold into unflinching bars on his struggles. A product of the bustling inner city, Lingo’s second offering fuses opulence (“Private Dinners”) with concrete-bound observation (“Out the Blue”)—taking cues from electrified Afro grooves (“Consumeriddm”) and crystalline, pointed ’90s boom bap (“Fighting Giants”). Here, he breaks down his sophomore effort Coming up for Air, track by track. “Wake Up & Start Again (Intro)” “I like to record on the go, taking songs and sessions and bringing them into my day-to-day life. I don’t record projects as [whole] projects. It’s because my music is so deeply rooted in my schedule, songs often take on a life of their own. I’ll leave one in the vault for two years and find a way to fit onto a project perfectly, today. This began as a proper song before we shifted gears and made it the thesis statement of this project.” “Jaded” “This song is the soundtrack to perseverance. My number one intention here was for it to sound warm and cozy, like taking my bed and whirling the fibers into silky sound. I wanted this song to balance the light and dark energy within—reflecting on rough times and coping mechanisms. After I made The Worst Generation, I couldn’t navigate life freely and do the things I wanted to. I was battling my inner demons, on top of losing loved ones. It was a lot. This song is me saying: ‘I get demotivated and upset too, but that’s OK.’” “Out the Blue” “The violins that open this track were trying to mirror fresh daytime energy. After feeling ‘Jaded’ on the previous track, the sun’s beaming on me now: looking up at the sky with my brow raised. If you listen to this song, it’s a message. There’s technical structure and all of that, but also a real tranquil vibe, thanks to this leftfield beat.” “Consumeriddm” “I wanted to use this song as an extended metaphor for the things in our lives that we think are fulfilling, but they’re not. This is all about our chase for that next big thing. This track is inspired by alté and future bounce. To some of my fans, this could come across as a bit left—but there’s method to my madness. Around the time I made this, I was pulling a lot of inspiration from GoldLink, KAYTRANADA, and the [LA music collective] Soulection sound.” “Lowkey” “This is an inward look at myself. The chopped-and-screwed production on this one is so sick to me. It’s a microcosm of my feelings and what it’s like to grapple with depression—it’s tough to articulate, but I tried to touch on those things in life we’re all feeling, but don’t discuss.” “Fighting Giants” “I worked with [UK musician and producer] Zacari, [UK producer and engineer] Henry Black, and this crazy pianist named Chris. We were all in a studio and cooked up this glitzy boom-bap beat. Instead of pairing it with tough rapper energy, I wanted this track to capture some of my vulnerability. This is like a deep, meaningful conversation by a riverside, away from rough Instagram comments and the negative energy that can mess up your day. These things are so small in our lives, but we inflate them to the point where it feels like we’re fighting giants.” “Heart Race” (feat. WIINSTON) “This song is a conversation with myself. I wanted the production to feel grand, but intimate at the same time, to represent the latter stage of the album. Lyrically, this track continues from where ‘Jaded’ left off. It’s almost like a mountain of anxiety reaching its tipping point.” “Very Couture” (feat. Kojey Radical) “This song is a musical essay that picks apart relationships in my life. It’s also about understanding that our scars are God’s tattoos—reminders of the tests we face in life. I love how Kojey Radical entered my world on this one too. I think he killed his verse and elevated the song.” “Private Dinners” (feat. Jordan Mackampa) “This is my victory lap. And it was inspired by exactly what you think. I was dining at a lot of elegant places: meeting artists like Professor Green, Stormzy, Dave, JAE5, and Skepta, all in the same room. I remember meeting the [team] behind [UK-based fashion brand] Trapstar. I felt overwhelmed in the best way possible. It was Black excellence. This song is how I felt in those rooms.” “My Radio” (with Queen & Roger Taylor) “This song started as a tribute to my grandma, it’s emotional. Not every musician has the opportunity to use a Queen classic as their canvas, I’m just one of the lucky ones. [Queen’s 1984 single] ‘Radio Gaga’ represents a nostalgia trip to me. Nostalgia comforts us at our lowest and helps us when we’re below the water, to keeps us afloat. We decided to not sample the obvious section of the song—it’s too easy to lean on a sample for the heavy lifting, but this is the perfect conclusion to the album. Because nostalgia can be viewed as a high point of enlightenment—or a cry for help, at your lowest. It’s a Sunday night in song form. But Sunday is the first day of the week, when you think of it that way, so this takes the narrative circular. After this song: wake up and start again.”