Rise
Samantha James
This is late-summer evening horizontal house. And while that’s nothing new, Samantha James manages to differentiate herself from an immense group of sound-alike artists.
The downtempo, loungey, nu-jazz sound reached a new level of mainstream popularity in the early 2000s, and the market has since become saturated with Buddha Lounge, Hotel Costes, and similar compilation series. Labels like Hed Kandi, Naked Music, and James’s own Om are continually churning out new artists to satisfy the demand, but amidst all that, Samantha James’s debut album Rise distinguishes itself by its superior songwriting. The sticker on the album’s cover says “For Fans of: Sade, Morcheeba, Bebel Gilberto & Everything But The Girl”, so without even peeling back the cellophane, Samantha’s already elevated to the level of some of this generation’s most deeply personal songwriters. That height could be precarious if she were teetering atop only label promotion and a pretty face, but Samantha’s got the chops to back that up along with the aforementioned.
The quality is consistent throughout the album; the uncompromising lyrics and lavish vocal arrangements fall effortlessly from James’s lips and sustain a continuous intimate connection with the listener. The production, courtesy of collaborator ROCAsound, flaunts all the bells and whistles electronica has to offer - watery instrumentation, liquid beats, and gorgeous filtering and layering of the vocals - but serves to augment what is preexisting, not make up for weakness. The album would sound just as beautiful unplugged. I’ve been waiting a year for this to drop, since hearing the initial single of the same name, and I couldn’t feel more rewarded for the wait. For any who love music that gets inside and lingers like the taste of red wine, this one’s just waiting for you.
