In a backroom, in a less than salubrious part of town, the ethereal Samana wove a trance over the audience and we all left a little more relaxed on a warm spring evening.
The Crofters Rights is actually a lovely little venue just north of the centre of Bristol with great pizza, a wide range of craft beverages and a well setup back room for intimate live events. The floor was a little sticky, but that is just a mark of credibility for a live venue! However, it didn’t help as I tried to creep around with my camera during the quieter, acoustic guitar wielding support in the form of Emmy Lila. Her songs were melancholic, but Emmy’s voice was strong with great control and the small crowd warmed to her as the set progressed. She chatted with the crowd while she tuned and her cow joke “What do you call a 2 legged cow…..Lean Beef” went down well…until an audience member asked “what do you call a cow with no legs?” and so ruining her follow up joke.
‘Chelsea Road’, written about the ending of a friendship encompassed all that was great about Emmy, a really heartfelt, beautiful song, sung with such expression and passion. Worth keeping an eye on her as she develops her talents. Ground beef by the way, the name for a zero legged cow.
Then onto the main act. I was intrigued about Samana after hearing the stories of them getting caught in France during lockdown and from that giving birth to their new album ‘All One Breath’ which was released on 11th March. In a time of uncertainty, solitude, isolation and challenge, an album was created that covered multiple musical styles and played live, it was no different. At times, the music was almost trancelike, the audience just gently swaying and the rhythm holding them up. The pace was slow and the effects and backing keyboards gave a depth and feeling of space to the music. Within those pieces, there was experimentation, with an assortment of instruments added to the mix and at times distorted, almost screaming guitars building to a noisy crescendo.
There was a freedom to the set, where the accomplished musicians were given scope to explore different directions before coming back on point. Franklin’s (Mockett, guitarist and vocalist) slide guitar added an Americana tone to a number of the songs and you can see how it’s sometimes hard to understand how these sounds come from an English band, albeit via Wales. Described at times as ‘drowsy’, far from being a negative, this encapsulates the slow paced laid back material but the sudden crashing guitar or vocal peak shocked you out of any possible slumber.
This was different from many live show I have been to in a while in that, I just wanted to sit and listen and take it all in. The vocals were hypnotic and Rebecca’s (Rose Harris, vocalist) melancholic tones were occasionally punctuated with louder interludes demonstrating her vocal prowess. A really interesting live show and what a great way to start the tour. But I really hope they put their shoes and socks on before walking back over that sticky floor….
