Samamidon — All is Well

Samamidon Second album this year and third in all is once more an unique mix of country meets folk meets pop music, but it finds them enlarging their musical backing & sound  textures making a  denser & layered collection of tracks, from the often stripped down song craft of the past.

Brass  & wind swoons drift, string melody soar and sail  over and around the tracks emphasizing there beautiful harmonic grace, there are also slight programmed percussive elements and electronics  though they never take away from the music honest earthiness. Along with   viola, harmonium, Glockenspiel and piano which all of course join their base instruments of Banjo, Acoustic and electric guitar, and fiddle.

All the songs here are based on traditional old folk songs  but very much painted in the distinctive Samamidon brush stokes and of course with the new epic and grand perspective on songcaft, though the tracks never become too crowded or lose sight of their emotional grounding and honest melodic richness.  Sam’s instant recognisable seem more polished and rich here too, really soaring to the heavens with the strings, brass or winds- or emotional dwelling over picked acoustics.

There also seems darker and more melancholy tone present here too, little of the project fun and quirky edges remain - this feels and older, more grown up and sophisticated work. It’s amazing really how much the band have changed and matured at such a fast rate. A soaring and beautiful butterfly of an album, rich with tuneful wonder and epic song craft.