Reviews

Samaris and Feral Love @LEAFTeaShop #Liverpool

Jun 11, 2016 1570 views No Comments

A review of Icelandic band, Samaris, at Leaf Tea shop, Liverpool ,on Thursday, 9^th June, 2016. Support from the ever brilliant Feral Love.

Not usually one to be lost for words when writing, I am fast running out of superlatives to describe Feral Love. I almost feel like it is an undeserved privilege to have seen them for a third time in just over a month and at the start of something that is certain to spill out and spiral upwards over the course of 2016 and into next year. The smaller venue meant that the audience could feel closer to, and more immersed in, the overall experience, although there was the usual British reserve in leaving a few metres gap at the front of the stage, with a mere few brave souls venturing tentatively closer to the action. The acoustics of Leaf Tea Shop perfectly suited Adele’s ethereal vocals, which were, as ever, on point, and soul-piercing, with eternity beckoning in the echoes of the high notes, and blended perfectly with the myriad loops and Christian’s deft guitar runs. The set comprised Wreckage, Wonders, Summer Was Ours, Swam, current single Like the Wind and Ruins and the band undoubtedly gained new fans on the night from amongst those who had come to see Samaris. They definitely sounded rockier and more urgent than previously, and Grace Goodwin’s drumming is edgy and driving. From my sofa at the side of the stage I spied several people looking excitedly enthralled when she let loose, particularly on Like the Wind and Ruins and her family must, understandably, be incredibly proud of her continuing development on stage.

Finally what about the inspirational lesson that Feral Love teach us? Following the folding of original project, the band Bird, just as it was taking flight, it would have been easy for Adele and Christian to call it a day. It does, however, take real courage, perseverance and determination to start out again when your initial plans have been scuppered. They have never given up on their dreams and there is a lesson for all of us to learn in that. Just as the Beatles failed numerous times to get a recording contract or JK Rowling a publishing deal so here there is no such thing as failure, only steps on the road to the eventual success that is coming their way.

So are there any similarities between Feral Love and Samaris? On first hearing the bands are very different. The former have a far more rocky sound live whereas the latter are more atmospheric club chill with programmed beats as opposed to a live drummer. The fact that people clearly like both bands, though, naturally caused me to question why that is. The audience demographic didn’t change over the night and virtually the whole audience saw both acts. So how about this for my unfounded theory on the overlap of Liverpool and Reykjavik’s aspiring new elite: thought provoking lyrics that fluctuate between life’s bittersweet experiences and the overwhelming influence of the elements; inventive loops and layers of image-conjuring, mood-weaving virtuosity; and an enchanting stage persona and presence that teeters on the verge of spellbinding as you are drawn into unplanned mesmerisation.

So, on to our friends from Iceland. Samaris are going through the change. No! Not that change! They are far too cool, young and hip to be menopausal. No…they have undergone a change of direction in several ways, whilst still maintaining much of what their audience came to expect with previous albums, Samaris and Silkidrangar. Not only have they started to sing in English but the lyrical content has also changed. Whereas previously the band added beats, backing tracks and melodies to nineteenth century Icelandic poetry the songs are now a direct reflection of their own experiences of life. This all means that they will become much more accessible internationally, and to young people particularly. That does not mean to say that their previous songs were, or are, inaccessible. Not knowing what the songs are about forces the listener to work harder at interpreting the moods underlying the musical themes. There is a certain mystique about the songs sung in Icelandic. The language barrier can be the very thing which draws you more into the mood of the music itself as you build up your own pictures in your mind.

At Leaf Samaris played previous Icelandic songs, interspersed with ones like T4ngled from The Black Lights album which came out the day after the gig on 10^th June and contains singles Wanted to Say and Black Lights, which they ended the set with. These songs feel more modern as does the use of numbers in titles e.g. t3mpo/ T4ngled. Writing different tracks across different countries has watered down the Icelandic influence to a certain extent, although there are definitely still echoes of the lyrical, musical and romantic tradition. Now, however, there are new flavours as you taste urban Berlin and rural Ireland where the band have been ensconced.

The audience at Leaf were predominantly older than at the majority of gigs I’ve attended recently. There was, therefore, no moshpit to go wild in. Those assembled in the upper room of the tea shop were, however, quietly appreciative, reflective, and at times mesmerised. There was polite applause after each song with the occasional whoop at the back. Jófríður sang enchantingly and swayed and swam to the songs’ currents and beats and moods, talking briefly between numbers to thank the audience or to comment on something, and at one point to explain what she called a ”fuck up” that meant there were no physical copies of the album for sale on the night. Accomplished programmer, beatmaker and keyboardist Doddi and Áslaug, whose beautiful clarinet playing gives the band such a distinctive sound, are the other two thirds of Samaris. Together they make music that is at times evocatively bleak, glacial and moody, while nodding at the same time to an altogether more chilled escapism.

Samaris can surely build on a current obsession in the UK with Scandinavian dramas like The Bridge and Arne Dahl, where dark themes are overlaid with moody, thought provoking, tension-laden soundtracks and theme tunes.(e.g. Hollow Talk by Choir of Young Believers) Certainly their music is an image-weaving mingling of instruments, rhythms and voice that takes you by the hand and pulls you into mystical folk domains, where your cravings for art, literature and music, for love, freedom and belonging meet at one point. The single and title track, Black Lights sounds like a ready-made theme tune for a drama/thriller….”White lights in the distance” It feels utterly timeless but totally modern at the same time, the beat like a car racing down the highway from suburbia into a frozen glacial landscape of yesteryear. It is simultaneously urban and rural, heart-warming yet spine-chilling, life-affirming while welcoming death with open arms. The line, “It’s hard seeing things that you can’t have” could be the motto of a jealous murderer avenging an unrequited love. These current songs are no longer old Icelandic poems but new poems for 2016, timeless themes and folk melodies encased in ultra electro-modernism for today’s generation…gritty, real and uncompromising.

If Samaris or Feral Love are coming to a venue near you I seriously urge you to go and check them out.

Feral Love