When we first wrote about New York’s Samia back in 2018, we described her music as “pitched somewhere between ironic and sincere, or perhaps embracing both poles simultaneously.” The observation was based upon one song, though her career in the meantime has only reinforced the notion. Samia put out ‘The Night Josh Tillman Listened To My Song’, and then Tillman, the patron saint of irony-rock, showed his admiration online, sealing her status as a tongue-in-cheek superstar. But, beneath that, Samia’s music has a genuine emotion, and it’s the interplay between these forces that make her music so interesting. As we wrote previously:
At times her vocals have a carefree swagger, though this can shift just as quickly into a keen desperation, as though certain lines are dragged from within her chest by some external force. The result could be described as adolescent, where moods swing in an attempt to best frame an insistent rage, though the self-conscious lyrics hint at an over-arching intelligence operating behind all this too.
Samia is back with a new double single that sees her carve out this niche even further, and make it her own. ‘Lasting Friend’ has a confidence and bravado, though this time it’s channeled not into a Father John Misty pastiche but boisterous indie rock with real heart. The playfulness is left to the video, directed by Ruby Rose Makkena.
In contrast, ‘Paris takes a more restrained, introspective style, leaning much further into folk and replacing the previous energy with a smouldering emotion. While the swagger from the previous track might have gone, ‘Paris’ is perhaps even more forthright and sincere, even the guard of self-confidence dropped in favour of tenderness—fondness so keen that it comes with a vulnerability.
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Lasting Friend / Paris is out now via Grand Jury Music and you can get it from the Samia Bandcamp page.