Artist Highlight: Samia
Samia at the Academy Center of Arts in Lynchburg, Virginia. (April 2023). Courtesy Raegan Doise
In the midst of a band’s pandemonium, a small woman lies on the ground, thrashing and stomping. The crowd’s roars reverberate. Her boots thud to the beat of the drums and guitars. Suddenly, she rises to the microphone, exuding unsettling calmness and deliberate grace. In her resoundingly remarkable voice, the now-timid singer delivers haunting lines of vulnerability and poignant observation.
I only write songs about things that I'm scared of,
So here, now you’re deathless in art.
You’ve got this and the movies and also my love,
You can have it all, baby, I’m giving it up.
She leaves the audience in hushed silence.
Anyone who has attended a Samia concert has experienced the emotional whiplash her performances bring about. She effortlessly contorts the energy of a crowd, shifting them from moshing to sobbing in a matter of minutes.
Samia at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. (February 2023). Courtesy Mallory Durkin
None of Samia’s tours have included the great state of Alaska, let alone Fairbanks, but fortunately, now anyone—and their mother—can experience the captivation of Samia’s live performances. Earlier this month, on November 8, Samia and her band appeared on the NPR Music YouTube channel on the beloved Tiny Desk series.
As one YouTube commenter stated: “[There’s] nothing better than seeing a tiny desk of an artist I like. It’s like a concert I can always go back to.”
The appeal of the Tiny Desk concert is how up close and personal every viewer can be with their favorite star. The camera zooms in, revealing the wide-eyed 26-year-old and her smirk that slowly emerges. As she begins her first song, “Is There Something in the Movies,” her face contorts, shifting between closed eyes and a deep frown to the outstretched grin that overtakes her when she opens her eyes and sees where she is.
A funky, charming posse of bandmates surrounds her. The drummer, called Wormy, swivels his neck with mouth agape, radiating genuine excitement and concentration. The rest sway and coyly smile as they peer at their band’s leader. They all look on in admiration, and Samia turns and does the same to them. The genuine love they have for each other is palpable.
Wormy and Samia. (April 2021). Courtesy of The Alternative.
https://www.getalternative.com/interview-track-premiere-wormy-hungry-ghost-feat-samia/
In this performance, Samia and her band veer away from her more upbeat, synth-pop (yet equally gut-wrenchingly lyricized) recent album, Honey (2023), and instead highlight her soulful and deeply personal debut album, The Baby (2020). Instead of the body gyrations and headbanging that characterized much of her Honey tour performances, Samia reverts to her self-proclaimed “ballerina” dance moves, raising her arms above her head and twirling, shimmying her fingers as she bows towards her bandmates throughout their set. She doesn’t take herself too seriously.
Samia is full of endless gratitude. Her words are delivered with a quiet grace that belies the reality of performing for thousands of adoring fans. With a humble demeanor, she speaks as if stepping onto the stage for the first time, her voice resonating with a serene humility uttering reminders, like “this is crazy,” to herself.
This performance was the final one before the retirement of the founder and producer of the Tiny Desk series, Bob Boilen. Now a cult favorite for NPR fans everywhere, the Tiny Desk has a 15-year history of spotlighting musicians of all types from behind Boilen’s not-actually-so-tiny desk in the NPR office space. Samia stops multiple times throughout the performance to thank and honor Boilen for his work, never letting the attention settle on herself for too long.
NPR Tiny Desk Performance. (November 2023). Courtesy Michael Zamora - NPR Music
Her final song, “Pool”, opens with an emotional recording that has the nostalgic quality of a home video. It is her grandmother singing to her in Lebanese Arabic. The translation reads:
“Sami, Sami, Sam-Soumi,
Samia is beautiful and sweet,
May God keep you with me,
You are my soul and eyes,
Granny loves you a lot,
And you take away all my worries,
Sami, Sami, Sam-Soumi,
Samia is beautiful and sweet.”
Samia can’t contain her smile; she sways back and forth a few times and then throws her arm in the air, exclaiming, “This my grandma!”
The whiplash occurs again when the emotion suddenly takes over her face and she begins,
“I said, 'Lovin' you is bigger than my head'
And then you dove in
And then I said, 'I'm afraid that I need men'
You said, 'Need me then.'“
Her voice fills with sorrow as she yelps repeatedly at the closing of “Pool.”
“Is it too much to ask?
Is it too much to ask?”
Then suddenly, her smile returns; she swells with pride and pulls Boilen in for a departing hug. Whiplash again!
Samia’s raw lyrics, incredible voice, and kind, humble (yet still goofy) nature make Samia an impossible artist to forget. She ought to be celebrated.
Setlist for Samia’s NPR Tiny Desk:
"Is There Something in the Movies?"
“Big Wheel"
“Winnebago"
"Triptych"
"Pool"
Label: https://grandjurymusic.com/
Website: https://www.samiaband.com/
Watch the Tiny Desk concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCQAgRoVMCo
Listen to our show: Beat Soup, Mondays at 8pm AK https://stream.radio.co/se776fab22/listen
Listen to more Samia: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Uk1GyijF6fSfX4mWq5bfR?si=DYdZuBCVT0KyGG-rdMiUtw
by: Mallory Durkin (Beat Soup)