“Every Time I Returned To The Studio, I Found Strength Again”: Wayne Snow Is At His Most Powerful On Snowdome   

As the soul visionary rounds out 2025, he digests a life-affirming album-release year.

Wayne Snow’s latest album Snowdome might be the artist’s third, but if it’s here you become an inductee to the astral soul of the Belgium-based, Nigeria–hailing dynamo – you won’t feel out of place. For even his most loyal disciples, Snowdome, as he tells Man About Town, signals a reintroduction. “On [2021 sophomore] Figurine, I was exploring identity, masks, perceptions, the roles we play,” he says. “With Snowdome, I wanted to melt all that away and face what’s underneath. It’s more vulnerable, more raw in a sense, but also sonically more accomplished.” 

He crafts a record that’s vast in musical language  – there’s Afrofuturist backdrops, off-kilter electronics, ample soulful wonder and pitch-perfect pop outlines. But it also reaches a sweet spot of emotional articulation that eludes many their whole career – commanding track three “Fearless” sees him defiantly shed any morsel of trepidation that could have previously held him back. “All I Care About” is as tender an account of tunnel-vision devotion to someone as you could seek out – until the synths enter the conversation, and you’re led down an equally entrancing, Disclosure-reminiscent path. The laconic “Beauty in Chaos” is instantly enigmatic, and gives way to the album’s sole listed collaboration with Memphian rapper, Red Music. 

Marry it altogether and you have an artist operating in full flight. Snow recently brought the LP to life at London’s Jazz Café, and as he rounds out a year of artistic brilliance – he sits down with us to talk architecting the record, navigating the winter season, and the lodestar beauty that guides him through life’s chaos.  

Hi Wayne! We love Snowdome. It’s less than a month since it’s been out in the world – how have these past few weeks been?

It’s been great. I’m just happy to see more and more people connecting with the album. After living with it for so long, watching it find its way into other people’s lives feels really special.

It’s over four years since your last album, 2021’s Figurine. Can you tell us where we find you on Snowdome?

Snowdome feels like a reintroduction. On Figurine, I was exploring identity, masks, perceptions, the roles we play. With Snowdome, I wanted to melt all that away and face what’s underneath. It’s more vulnerable, more raw in a sense, but also sonically more accomplished.

What was your recording set-up for this project – where were you? Who was in the room? What time of day were you making it?

Most of it was done at Brewery Studio in Berlin, in a small, intimate room filled with just a few synths. Golo Schulz was a big part of shaping the sound with me, along with Yanek Stärk, Nikodimos, and Red Music. We mostly worked during the day, I prefer that, because my voice is more awake and powerful when I sing in daylight.

Take us back to the day you landed on the album’s title.

I actually got the title from Chris Gill, who runs Northside Records in Melbourne. While I was on tour in Australia, I stopped by his store. Chris is such an incredible human being — he’s done so much for the local music scene. He not only introduced me to Nikodimos, but also said, “Why don’t you make a little snow dome as merch? It would be beautiful.” I loved the idea instantly and quickly wrote “Snowdome” down on my phone. It just stayed with me.

Track three, “Fearless,” is an anthem for conquering adversity and emerging stronger on the other side. You’re three albums into your career — when you look back on the journey, what’s been the most testing but most worthwhile challenge you’ve overcome?

The industry and sometimes even people around you can make you doubt your intuition, your timing, your worth. But every time I returned to the studio and reconnected with my truth, I found strength again. The hardest but most important thing has been staying connected to that inner voice. That’s really what “Fearless” is about.

You’re weeks shy of your European tour. Can you unpack what the experience of seeing you live involves?

The setup is quite simple, it’s a duo: Abase, my brother in crime, on the machines, and me on the mic. It’s immersive, not just a show, but a space where we can really feel together. If the venue allows, we add visuals I created specifically for the tour. I want people to leave feeling grounded and uplifted, like they’ve travelled somewhere inside themselves.

The winter season has hit the Northern hemisphere. Does your namesake indicate a fondness for subzero temperatures, or are you seeking out winter sun?

I have a complicated relationship with the cold! I grew up in Warri, so the sun is in my DNA. But there’s something about winter that feels cleansing – the silence, the stillness, the reflection it brings. So maybe I’m somewhere in between: snow on the outside, fire on the inside.

One of the album standouts is penultimate track “Beauty in Chaos.” What was the last thing of wonder you saw in the crazy world we find ourselves in?

My daughter. She can melt any heart.