There’s wonderful news from incredibly talented British musician Will Samson, who has today announced the release of a new album of ambient instrumentals, following last year’s Harp Swells. Entitled Songs of Beginning & Belonging, it will see the light of day on January 31st through Dauw. The upcoming album embodies a personal evolution for Samson, who has throughout much of his career wrestled with notions of “belonging and acceptance, both within the music industry and in his personal life”, as the press release describes. Representing a bold step forward into new inscapes, Songs Of Beginning & Belonging “reflects a sense of inner peace and renewal”. Samson comments:

“This album is about freeing myself from old wounds and starting fresh and light; I now feel settled in ways I haven’t ever done before”

The announcement arrives with the first single, the tender and enthralling ‘Loshult’, featuring Swiss percussionist Julian Sartorius. Wrap your ears around it.

Photo: Vera Marmelo

A year on from the release of Active Imagination, Will Samson has announced the release of his seventh full-length album. Entitled Harp Swells, it marks his first full-length ambient album and is set for release on September 8th through Taylor Deupree’s experimental label 12k. Now based In Portugal, the British musician composed the upcoming album in Almada in the sea facing studio space he shares with Casper Clausen (Efterklang). Speaking about it, Samson comments:

“There was one main goal when making Harp Swells: make music that flows and feels just like the view outside the studio window.
If frustration or creative blocks arose, I’d take a short break to watch the waves, and then return to the music.”

Ahead of the album release, Samson is enticing us with the immersive, serene and stunning first single, ‘And Yet’, featuring vocals from Maia Nunes and longtime collaborator Michael Feuerstack. Of the track and collaboration, Samson says:

“Maia (Nunes) was a visiting artist resident where I recorded the album & so we would occasionally share a cup of tea during breaks. After having a conversation about our mixed ancestries and how they had often led to subtle feelings of displacement, I returned to my studio and the lyrics appeared. That one sentence was enough to capture how I was feeling (and still feel these days) and so there was nothing more that need to be said. In fact, the lyrics seemed to perfectly capture the mood of the whole album for me.

I was experimenting with sampling during this period, so the sound that begins the track is myself blowing into an empty glass bottle.”

‘And Yet’ comes with an accompanying video created by Daisy Moseley and you can watch it below.

In other related good news, and in support of Harp Swells, Will Samson has announced a string of live shows in the UK / Europe. The tour kicks off in Antwerp on September 6th wrapping in Paris on November 18th and includes a show in Porto on September 16th. Tickets are on sale now for most shows, head over to willsamson.co.uk/shows for more info.

Coinciding with the vinyl release of his sixth studio album, Active Imagination, electronic / folk artist Will Samson shared last week a new video to accompany the gentle and gorgeous ‘Echo Spring’. Directed and edited by Daisy Moseley, the video was filmed on 16mm and as Samson puts it, “it seeks to illustrate the album’s central themes of ancestral roots, belonging and identity.”

Grab Active Imagination now through Human Chorus and watch the video below.

In other related good news, and in support of the album, Will Samson has announced a string of European live dates kicking off in July and including a show in Porto at Maus Hábitos on July 15th. Head over here for all his stops and more info.

Will Samson has announced details of a brand new album, Active Imagination, his sixth studio album and the follow up to 2019’s Paralanguage. A collection of 9 bewitching pieces, on the album Samson continues to explore and merge folk, experimental and electronic music. In the works for a whole year, Active Imagination is described “a richly layered meditation on the idea of belonging, identity and the search for home in the most unstable of worlds”. Samson comments:

“My family tree spreads so far across the globe that I’ve often wondered if it is in my blood to be constantly moving, perhaps in a search to find a solid sense of belonging. With no real ancestral homeland (or rather, a multitude of them) it is easy to feel a conflicted sense of identity – even if just on a very subtle level. These feelings would sometimes appear as dreams, which then became songs”

Inspired by lucid dreaming, the album takes its name from Carl Jung’s method of dream analysis. “In order to help learn the technique, I wrote down my dreams in a notebook each morning – and took them to the studio to translate into songs”, Samson explained.

Active Imagination will see the light of day on May 6th (CD/DL) and on June 24th (LP) through Samson’s own Human Chorus. Ahead of it, he has shared the first single, ‘Arpy’. The track comes with an accompanying video filmed and directed by Daisy Moseley. Speaking about the video, Samson says:

“The Arpy video was filmed on 16mm film in a secret location during Summer 2021. On the first day of filming, we found a dead shark and the camera ate up the entire roll of film. It took us almost 10 months of planning and there were many times that I thought we would never be able to do it – due to lockdowns, seemingly inaccessible locations and bad weather. But the result is something that we are all very proud of. In the end, it really feels as though it was worth all of the effort and time.”

Watch the video now.

Following the utterly beautiful and serene ‘Ochre Alps‘, Will Samson is offering ‘Flowerbed’ as the second gorgeous single from his upcoming fifth album, Paralanguage. The track comes with an accompanying video directed by Daisy Moseley. Watch it below.

Paralanguage is out on December 6th through Wichita Recordings.