Will Samson - Songs Of Beginning And Belonging Will Samson

I love the magical collision between music and art – when the record sleeve reflects how the music is. On Will Samson’s beautiful new record, Songs Of Beginning & Belonging, Eva Vermeiren’s abstract painting is the perfect match – it’s lush green main colour joined by stone shaped black blobs with one pink one and a couple of green ones for good measure. It feels like it could be an aerial view of a park – or anything really. The design detail is great too, the front cover is varnished, the back (just text) not.

Will Samson’s music has an openness too – a sense of possibility. It builds, it breaks, it breaks down then comes back together. Wave after wave of gorgeous ripples and flecks – life echoing down in sun-splashed slo-mo. I think it will connect with fans of Tape and Eno’s Music For series, and with fans of Ólafur Arnalds and Empress in their most experimental, abstract moments.

The album title is poignant too – the press release tells us that Samson has long felt like an outsider, caught between being ‘too experimental’ for some and ‘too indie’ for others. His struggle to fit into a defined space has deeply influenced his music. After the pandemic derailed a major indie record deal, Samson grew disillusioned with the industry, reflecting on how his search for belonging had often been met with barriers.

The album is a reflection on these experiences. Moving away from the themes of home and displacement that he says coloured his earlier works, the new album reflects a sense of inner peace and renewal. Recorded between November 2022 and May 2024 in a former studio in a secluded spot on the River Tejo in Almada, the album was made specifically for Belgian label, Dauw, who had asked Samson to create a piece of music for them. Dauw is definitely a label to keep an eye on – their mission statement is to create a unique hand-made piece of art that flatters both the ear and the eye.

The album was largely recorded using a 1970’s ‘Uher 4200’ tape machine, plus a small collection of other tape machines that wind their way in and out of the recordings and give it a very unique identity. Pressed in an edition of 200, it’s exactly the kind of record we love to represent in the shop. One of my favourite records of the year so far.

SP / monorail