Samson & Delilah

Album review
By Chris Long
Producer, BBC Manchester Introducing

As sparkling as morning dew and just as tender, Samson & Delilah's eponymous album is a delicate flower of a record.

The band are centred around life, as well as music, partners Sam Lench and Anna Zweck, and their intimacy shines through the songs that fill this, their debut release.

As with fellow Mancunian pairing The Winter Journey, their partnership has pushed forth a collection that flits from one to the other, sharing lead vocals in delicious style, and is as a fit for a cosy living room as it is for a stage.

From the shimmering ghost of opener Crystallised Sand to the gathering, gently epic finale of Place To Be, it is an album filled with subtle moments, glistening harmonies and intriguing instrumentation.

Gems lie in the stunning, early music-esque a cappella opening of And When The Rose, Dusk's sparse music box quality and the swaying crescendo of Angels Said.

They are far from the only places that shine, as just as satisfying are the wandering whistles and hand claps of Swimming Against The Tide, Starlight In The Afternoon's gathering swell or the sub-gypsy-punk breakdown of Motherbird.

There's restrained adventure at every turn and gentle joy by the bucket load to be found, all combining to make a well-considered and finely delivered debut.

Samson & Delilah is out on Little Red Rabbit Records