On June 5, 2024, I went to Bleachers’ “From the Studio to the Stage” Tour at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. I waited in line for 4 hours to get a good spot, hopefully near the barricade, since they are one of my favorite artists and it was my first general admission concert. I knew an artist named Samia was performing as the supporting act, and I think I had heard a couple of her songs by chance on Spotify before, but I knew basically nothing about her. Sure enough, I got my spot (and by got, I mean earned by waiting and throwing elbows, special thanks to my boyfriend for being patient about it, love you) about 15 feet from the stage, and an hour before Jack Antonoff hit the stage with Bleachers, Samia took front and center- I had no idea what I was in for!
Since the concert, Samia has shot up into my top 10 artists, according to the stats.fm app, on Spotify. Something about the timbre of her voice during a live show was just captivating, and my girl’s got some RANGE. She’s still a fairly small artist, so there’s not really any spectacle to behold during her set, but that didn’t matter. Her voice and her band filled the venue with the same fullness I’ve heard people talk about when referring to popular singer-songwriters like Lizzy McAlpine. Samia writes all her own songs, too, which gives her an edge that not many can claim in the music industry, though the number of self-authored artists is climbing. Her debut album The Baby (2020) was, in retrospect, the soundtrack of my Midwest summer, especially the song “Big Wheel.” I think part of what I like so much about her music is the relatability of the stories she tells in her lyrics (which is a little bit ironic, considering she herself did not have a typical upbringing, as the daughter of Hocus Pocus actress Kathy Najimy and actor Dan Finnerty). Her sophomore album, Honey (2023), has that same feeling, but with a more grown-up edge, more synth, and more brutal honesty.
I see a bright future for Samia, especially considering she has already toured supporting Noah Kahan, who is arguably one of the most popular artists in the United States right now, at least among Gen Z listeners, and of course, Bleachers, more recently. With that connection to Jack Antonoff, anything is possible- just check his production and writing credits. Everything that man touches turns into a hit, and my mind will not be changed by the keyboard warriors praying for his downfall. (Just say you hate good music and move on!!!)
Even more than that, her tracks target such specific parts of the human experience that somehow get transformed from painful to beautiful through her voice. In the opening track of her first album, “Pool,” she sings,
“How long do I have left with my dog / ‘til I start forgetting sh*t / how long ‘til we’re rich and then we’re not and then we’re rich / how much longer ‘til I’m taller / how much longer ‘til it’s midnight / how much longer ‘til it’s mornin’ / are my legs gonna last? / Is it too much to ask?”
Something about those desperate questions stirred my soul. As a girl who is sort of terrified of growing up, I hold that song very close to my heart. The musician in me also just HAS to point out that in “Pool,” the chord playing on the synth behind her voice remains the same for a long while until she sings the lyric “How long do you think we can sit here until we have to move?” And on the word “move,” the chord changes for the first time in the song, and consequentially on the entire album if played in order. My mama (who was also my high school choir teacher) taught me about text painting in music, and this example is just pure INSANITY. I’ll never pass up a chance to mention that specific part of that song. In contrast, on the first track of Honey, “Kill Her Freak Out,” she puts a humorous spin on a feeling all lover girls know too well: “Can I tell you something? / I’ve never felt so unworthy of loving / I hope you marry the girl from your hometown / and I’ll f***ing kill her / and I’ll f***ing freak out.” And you know what? She was so beyond real for that. She just gets it.
Of course, she also has several songs across both albums that I have on every dance party playlist. My favorites are “Big Wheel,” “Fit N Full,” and “Mad at Me,” with an honorable mention to “Honey.” I am partial to her album The Baby quite a bit just because I feel like it understands what it feels like to be a young adult in the Midwest, particularly being a girl from a tiny hometown at that age, and the music is unapologetically unique. It’s hard to pick a comparison, but if I had to go with anything, I’d say if you like the songs “Love Me Anyway” by Chappell Roan, “doomsday” by Lizzy McAlpine, and “nothing else i could do” by Ella Jane, that’s the kind of vibe you’ll get from Samia. I would love to see her have the kind of rapid rise to stardom that so many pop girlies have had this year (some of which I’m pretty sure I predicted in an article I wrote in January if that tells you anything about my taste; check it out here if you don’t believe me). I hope you will give her music a chance because it’s been a real game-changer for me!