Sam Animal – Powers
Sam Animal - Powers
Release Date: Out Now
Cornish born but Bristol based Sam
Animal created a mini-storm with the racy artwork for this debut album ‘Powers’
so had a create a safe version (see below) for the prudes over at Facebook
which all feels a little over the top all things considered. Artwork aside, Sam
Animal has created a bold piece of work for his debut offering with a number of
different styles, directions and textures all brought in to the mix across this
fourteen-track collection.
Proceedings get underway with ‘Another
Madness’, a laidback track with a satisfying low-slung guitar groove and
slathered keys providing a bed for Sam Animal’s voice to spread out on. Next up
is ‘Lurch’ (possibly an ode to the Addams family butler) which has a Jake Bugg vibe
about the chugging guitar, rattling drums and understated vocals with an
uplifting spirit to the chorus. ‘Medicine’ moves in to a jerky, quirky, Young Knives
area with lyrics about Peruvian flu sung by a voice that is hugely expressive
in a way that Ian Dury and Jaz Delorean did so well with.
This album is a real tour-de-force
of a songwriter stretching his legs for the first time and that is never more
evident than on ‘Glass Hero’ which finds Animal emulating Jeff Buckley with
strained, tortured vocals and brooding guitars suddenly giving way to an urgent
and funky chorus. ‘Cocaine’ starts with a hesitant guitar line before settling
in to an unlikely indie-pop love song with a sentiment that is essentially ‘I
don’t need class A drugs because your ass is so fine’ – what woman (or man)
could resist that as a chat up line? On ‘Tiger’ something shifts in the energy
which takes us to a point were Jamie T, Jamie Yost and Ben Howard meet on a
song that ripples and undulates with organic energy but also has an urban power
to it.
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| Sam Animal - Powers (for prudes) |
The groove on ‘Noble Steed’ is
deep and heavily blues influenced and ‘Come Get Me’ continues that theme with
some wonderfully raw guitar playing in a 12 bar structure for the soulful
vocals to weave in and out of like Hozier in full flow. The jam continues on ‘Sugar’
but this time it’s in a more chilled acoustic sense which befits Animal’s Cornish
upbringing as you can hear the seagulls and wash of the sea between each tight
chord. The soul in the vocals on ‘Volcano’ befit the sheer swell of natural
energy you get with a volcano itself but this falls in to the realms of Jake Morley’s
material for it’s honesty, beauty and lyrical ingenuity.
‘Memento-Mori’ finds that blues
inspired groove again with thundering guitars demanding your attention while ‘Brass
Knuckles’ jerks, rattles and rolls like Queens of the Stone Age playing in one
of your nightmares when you turn up to a gig naked. Heading in to the final
straight, we are treated to ‘Flatland’; a song full of sadness, hope and a
refreshing honesty laid out atop a sparse guitar melody and vocal harmonies.
And then, for the final encore, we have ‘Olive’ which emerges from splashing
cymbals with a slinky bass melody for Animal to return to that Buckley oeuvre with
late-night, Jazz inspired vocals. Sam Animal is a genuinely captivating, intriguing
and engaging singer-songwriter who has seemingly appeared from nowhere with an
album
More information: https://www.facebook.com/samanimalmusic/
Live Dates:
10th March – Gylly Beach Café, Falmouth