SELECTED PRESS
‘SAMANA’
(LP)
“The spiritual grounding between Rebecca Rose Harris and Franklin Mockett drives this strident blend of slowcorre, blues and yacht rock, with melodic surprises and ghostly vocal. Morricone meets Cowboy Junkies on ‘Into The Blue’, while ‘The Knife’ feels like a lost goth classic”
MOJO Magazine
★★★★
“Musically, the duo cleave to a gothic-leaning, string-infused spectacle blurring the boundaries between Dead Can Dance, Mazzy Star, Nico and sigur rós at the point of their international breakthrough. Then, add in dashes of freak-folk, John Martyn, the intensity of Judee Sill’s “The Donor” and Led Zeppelin’s folk-inclined explorations c. Led Zeppelin III.The nine tracks of Samana beckon you into their world in the same way tendrils of fog surround, and then lead astray, an unsuspecting traveller. Samana sound as entranced as the cast Werner Herzog hypnotised while directing Heart of Glass”
The Arts Desk
★★★★
Expressive, mysteries and creative, this self-titled album defies categorisation. Startingly beautiful, these songs have a driven intensity. SAMANA It has a vivid impact thats impossible to ignore. Bold and innovative, it’s a fine album!
Record Collector
★★★★
“They seem to have a disconnect with the world that the rest of us inhabit; the album is packed with complex musical ideas and extraordinary vocal performances”
RnR
“Their third, self-titled LP, ensnares listeners in a world of inner hearts and complex feelings. Providing a view of the internal reaches of the soul, one is exposed to passion and pain that sometimes provoke furious flurries of sound exploding into the air. It is an album that haunts your inner reaches, overflowing with ideas and alchemy. This is music of exhilaration and release, sounds that gently stroke the senses, sometimes exploding with the kind of tension coming from deep inside the spirit. As a band, Samana examines the soul, leaving one to start or restart life from a different, more enlightened point of view.”
What they have created is masterful
KLOF Magazine
“It’s lavishly engineered with piano and strings draped over slow burning gothic folk”
Buzz Magazine
“Their self-titled third album recalls the otherworldly atmospherics of Nico, Mazzy Star, Keeley Forsyth, with a now bolstered (self) production canon that ranges from Ennio Morricone scores to Radiohead’s more experimental moments.”
Silent Radio
“An outstanding new album!”
Adam Walton, BBC Wales Radio
“The lush instrumentation threads these ten songs with a dreamlike, spiritual presence as the vocals of Rebecca suggest the inner conflicts that we must all face and try to reconcile . Always compelling, this album is another fine example of the quiet power that this duo possess.”
Lonesome Highway
“A record that truly inspires awe. Enough to transcend the listener into a state of melancholy bliss”
9/10
Line of Best Fit
“Music that re-envisions the open road as a pathway for possibility. Surging, beatific songwriting, there's an Autumnal charm, a kind of gilded appeal”
CLASH Magazine
“Samana create music almost entirely of themselves.
Imagine Robbie Basho fronting latter-day Bad Seeds and you won’t be too far off the mark”
Backseat Mafia
“One of my favourite acts of all time. I can’t recommend anything more highly!”
Guy Garvey, BBC Radio 6
“It is an unequivocally compelling reflection of humanity”
Atwood Magazine
“Samana’s album is one that confronts the heaviest elements of the human condition –
alternately surrendering to this heaviness and transcending it.”
Still Listening Magazine
“It’s such a mesmerising and all-consuming delivery, it just stops you in your tracks”
Folk Radio UK
“Here’s one for lovers of voluptuous slow burners. Samana know how to make the very best of slow-paced sounds!”
Shindig
“Mistaking Samana for a product of the Deep South is easy when their second album sounds so raw, rustic and drowsy. A predominantly dreamy vibe.”
Uncut Magazine
“Its haunting and hypnotic in its minimalism, sitting somewhere between Tim Buckley and PJ Harvey with shades of Nick Cave and Mazzy Star”
Louder Than War