Album review: SAMANTHA FISH – Kill Or Be Kind

June 30th, 2019 by petefeenstra

Rounder [Release date 20.09.19]

There’s no denying the natural vivacity, or the cigar box guitar driven grooves and songcraft of Samantha Fish. Since bursting on the rock-blues scene a decade ago, she’s cut 6 solo albums of which the last 2 could be termed groundbreaking, as well as 2 Blues Caravan albums.

‘Kill Or Be Kind’ is her best album so far. It’s a detailed exposition of her songcraft. It heads for the middle ground, but does so with an unfettered cross-genre approach that serves her broad based song-writing style so well.

Then there’s her voice, a fragile nasal timbre that alternatively swoops, hollers, whispers and lays on honey sweep sultry phrasing. She’s smart enough to alter her pitch to explore contrast, most notably on the riff driven opener ‘Bulletproof’. The Mississippi Hill country blues influenced piece is built on a repetitive hypnotic riff, cool dynamics and a rough hewn slide solo and is a good example of her unique roots-rock style.

She cleverly alters her phrasing length and timbre on the pulsating electronica of ‘Watch Me Die’ and confidently extends her range on ‘You Got It Bad’, while honing her style by moulding her lyrics to subtle melodies, grooves and riffs.

It all makes for a rich musical fabric that takes us on an unhurried musical journey that reveals more with each repeated play.

She’s a contemporary artist with her own musical vision, and has the requisite musical chops and songcraft to forge her own path. She’s an artist who simply refuses to be labelled as that would stifle her creativity.

The result is a contemporary roots album dripping with Memphis soul (the very place of its recording), with hints of Americana, plenty of melodic strength and good hooks, but with enough musical diversity and subject matter to give the album its focus.

It’s all framed by a production which consistently places the emphasis on her voice to capture the moment. It all makes for subtle musical textures interwoven with instrumental colour that gives the album its extra layer of depth.

From the riff driven ‘Bulletproof’ through to the country pop, funky groove and catchy hook of the title track, to the atmospheric ‘Dream Girl, she offers something for everybody.

The album title’s duality goes a long way to explain an eclectic psyche at the heart of an album rooted in relationships songs and observational lyrics. There are moments of contrasting introspection, irony, and the occasional spiky song such as Dirty: “How can you sleep at night by her side, while I’m on your mind.”

Best of all is the single ‘Love Letters’, with its sludgy tempo, sultry-into-sensual phrasing and fazed electronica, on which the music cleverly evokes the atmospheric lyrics, broken only by a crunching buzz toned solo that leads back to the hook

Both ‘Love Letters’ and ‘Dream Girl’ – the latter is a gently pulsing ballad predicated on a gentle organ line – are good examples of her definitive songcraft, in which she immerses herself in the imagery, feel and the mood of a piece.

A delicate opening descending keyboard line ushers us into the beautiful ‘Farewell My Fair Weather’, which benefits from a clarity of diction, a sumptuous hook, some languid slide, and as on much of the album nuanced horns.

The tracks subtly flow on the back of some thoughtful sequencing and everything comes back to her voice which ultimately gives the album its unique flavour.

At her best, Samantha Fish draws us into her vivid narratives. Her phrasing is flexible enough to illuminate a wide variety of styles within the modern r&b genre. There’s the funky pop of ‘Try Not To Fall In Love With You’, which has a Mike Zito feel to it, while on the soulful ‘She Don’t Live Here Anymore’, the significant horn arrangement acts as a foil for her vocal.

Ultimately, ‘Kill Or Be Kind’ has an essential pop sensibility shot through with layers of Memphis Soul, blues, Americana, country, r&b and even rockabilly influences to offer wide appeal.

Her slow burning songs come with deeply wrought rhythms, intricate guitar work and smouldering arrangements to lodge in the memory and demand repeated listening.

‘Kill Or Be Kind’ is a mature slice of contemporary roots music that demands your patience but offers rich reward. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
RIOGHAN Hands (Inverse Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)