by Elizabeth Braaten (@lizbraatens)
Cameroon-raised, New York-based producer, singer and songwriter Laetitia Tamko, AKA Vagabon, returned in September with her third album, Sorry I Haven’t Called, out now via Nonesuch Records. Tamko co-produced the project with Rostam Batmanglij, a founding member of Vampire Weekend who also produced the group’s first three albums. Dreamy grooves, intimate songwriting and vivid imagery run wild from start to finish on Tamko’s latest effort, which spans twelve tracks and clocks in at just over 34 minutes. The project’s contagious energy and frank lyricism make Sorry I Haven’t Called pure pop paradise to the core — as well as one of the genre’s best offerings of the year to date.
Just like her unique sound, Tamko’s backstory is anything but conventional. She was born in Cameroon and resided there into her teenage years, until her family decided to move to the United States so that her mother could attend law school. Tamko, along with her family, eventually settled in New York City, where she attended high school. It was during this time that they purchased her a guitar from Costco, which she taught herself to play by watching DVD tutorials. A love affair with music was born, Tamko found community in the Brooklyn DIY scene, and she soon started playing with a band.
She was an excellent student, studied engineering in college and went on to work as a computer engineer, a job that she would eventually leave, opting instead to go on tour in support of her 2017 album Infinite Worlds. A stint of live performances and her self-titled 2019 album propelled her to global recognition, but the road to Sorry I Haven’t Called hasn’t been easy. In 2021, Tamko’s longtime friend and collaborator Eric Littmann passed away, leaving her to pick up the pieces.
Sorry I Haven’t Called is very much a product of that grief, with Tamko celebrating Littmann’s memory through a collection of songs filled with joy, intimacy, and upbeat energy. “Carpenter,” an electric dance number and one of the album standouts, is a catchy ode to the one that got away and sees Tamko opening her heart by leaning into the possibility of love with an ex-flame. “You Know How,” meanwhile, further dives into a sometimes-complicated romance, with Tamko admitting “I think we’re more than friends, but maybe just when we’re alone” over the track’s persistent, thumping house beat. “Do Your Worst,” the album’s sleeper hit, is a gorgeous confessional dripping with hyperpop influence, as Tamko states, “Do your worst, no one cares/You turn me into someone I don’t fuck with/I don’t like myself when I’m with you.”
Emotional depth, addictive pop earworms, and endless replayability make Sorry I Haven’t Called an album that listeners will return to again and again. It’s a poignant time stamp of how far Tamko has come over the course of the last few years, and a promise of more to come. “Can I talk my shit?” she asks on the album opener. Yes, she can.