Samia is on the move. In the period following her exceptional 2023 breakout ‘Honey’ the songwriter has laid down new roots, swapping Nashville for Minneapolis. A city with its own sense of heritage, the setting has enabled her to build a fresh team, one that allows her to be both vulnerable and challenged. Caleb Wright – from The Happy Children, also her favourite band – joins on production, with near-neighbour Jake Luppen (from indie heroes hippo campus) also stepping into the studio. The results are rooted in the successes of the past, while also moving to the future – new album ‘Bloodless’ is engaging, often fascinating, and a record that leans firmly in to her strengths.
Moving from lyrics that are emotionally incisive to laugh out loud funny, ‘Bloodless’ has a novelistic sweep. Songs like ‘Hole In A Frame’ or the excellent ‘Fair Game’ linger on her penchant for Americana-infused indie, but ‘Lizard’ is framed by synths, a kind of digi-coded Heartland hymn.
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‘Craziest Person’ hollows out the arrangement, the spartan guitar strumming the perfect foil for Samia’s tender delivery. A record that is strong from first to last, ‘Bloodless’ follows its own emphatic structure – ‘Carousel’ is an understated highlight, but ‘North Poles’ is broader, with Samia able to pain between the lines.
A circular experience that makes you want to hit ‘play’ by the time finale ‘Pants’ closes out, ‘Bloodless’ will fascinate anyone who stumbled across the path of ‘Honey’, while also charming new listeners. On ‘Bovine Excision’ Samia sings “I wanna be untouchable…” and on this evidence she’s pretty close.
8/10
Words: Robin Murray
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