Unbeeindruckt von Genregrenzen beschäftigt sich Will Samson seit über einem Jahrzehnt mit den Schnittstellen zwischen elektronischen, Folk- und Ambient-Klängen, wobei sein Schwerpunkt auf einem...
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Unbeeindruckt von Genregrenzen beschäftigt sich Will Samson seit über einem Jahrzehnt mit den Schnittstellen zwischen elektronischen, Folk- und Ambient-Klängen, wobei sein Schwerpunkt auf einem intensiven Hörerlebnis und analogen Aufnahmetechniken liegt.
Will Samson ist geprägt von verschiedenen Ländern: Seine Großeltern kommen aus Chile und Indien und lernten sich später in Kenia kennen. Geboren in Oxford, wanderte er selbst mit seinen Eltern nach Australien aus, wo er zehn Jahre lang lebte, bevor er nach Großbritannien zurückkehrte. Später begann er, zwischen Oxford und Berlin, dann Brighton, Lissabon, Brüssel und wieder zurück nach England zu pendeln. Schnell wird klar, warum sich ein Großteil von Samsons fesselnden Liedern oft mit Identität und Zugehörigkeit auseinandersetzt.
Will Samson hat Alben über Wichita Recordings / PIAS (Bloc Party, American Football, Ride), 12k (Taylor Deupree, Ryuichi Sakamoto), Dauw und sogar das britische Dance-Label Aus Music veröffentlicht. Er trat mit Künstlern wie Ólafur Arnalds, S. Carey, Kurt Vile, Efterklang und Do Make Say Think auf sowie bei europäischen Festivals wie Rewire, Explore The North, Fusion und Le Guess Who? Dazu kamen zahlreiche Headliner-Tourneen in Großbritannien und Europa. Remixes und Zusammenarbeiten entstanden unter anderem mit Gold Panda, Masayoshi Fujita und The Album Leaf.
https://www.willsamson.co.uk/
Foto: Joseph Ball
Englisch:
“Will Samson is dead”. These were the direct words heard during a six hour ayahuasca ceremony in April 2024. After many years of contemplation, research and careful thought, Will Samson partook in the plant medicine tradition, practised by indigenous people of the Amazon basin for hundreds of years. One of the most powerful psychedelic plants on earth, the ceremony strongly alters perception, offering what some say is equivalent to years worth of psychotherapy.
Not to be romanticised, this largely dark and terrifying experience provided invaluable insights – with the recovery and processing gradually unfolding over the proceeding one and a half years, during the creation of Sings Again.
Amongst many powerful visions, including conversations with his late father and memories of earliest childhood, Samson was taken to his own funeral.
“In the months afterwards, I truly did feel as though something significant in me had died...and then through psychotherapy I was able to process the experience and also learn how to move forward with an emphasis on creating from a new internal space.”
Where lyrics were often shrouded in cryptic language, Samson now sings us a raw and direct insight into the most vulnerable parts of himself.
Written over the course of two years, the album was mainly recorded in isolation during a long stay residency in the Portuguese region of Alentejo, at a small rural village between Lisbon and the Spanish border.
Musically inspired by the early works of Bjork, Four Tet & Efterklang, much of the album was built upon recording and then sampling organic sounds such as twigs, rocks and paintbrushes to create percussion. An empty glass bottle was transformed into the otherworldly organ on the raw opener 0333AM, and Samson’s own voice became the moody synth sound on the sparse electronica of Darabuka.
The familiar collection of old tape machines that have characterised much of his sound remain (with a 1971 Seinnheiser microphone for the vocals), firmly rooting Sings Again in an organic sonic landscape of electronic and acoustic influences.
Releasing records since 2012, Samson's practise has always been that of an instrumental artist, treating voice as another melodic element in the same way as any other instrument. However, as the name suggests,
Sings Again marks a return to vocal focused music, after a reflective period that saw him release two instrumental works on Belgian label Dauw and the esteemed ambient label 12k (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Taylor Deupree). On his return to singing, Samson offers a raw and direct insight into a long-established artist beginning again.
https://www.willsamson.co.uk/
Photo: Joseph Ball
