You may have caught Samia on tour recently opening for the likes of Hippo Campus, Sunflower Bean, or Donna Missal—but if she hasn’t caught your attention yet, her cover of Liz Phair’s “Never Said” oughta do the trick. The twenty-two-year-old songwriter sounds like a direct descendent of Phair’s ’90s-era lo-fi angst, though tracks like “Milk” and “Lasting Friend” have less scuzz to hide behind.
“Had the distinct privilege of meeting John Mellencamp when I was fourteen, and played him a few of my songs,” the songwriter recalls. “He goes, ‘Liz Phair. You’re gonna be like Liz Phair.’ Listened to her music pretty exclusively for a few years after that. Haven’t had such a visceral and lasting reaction to anyone’s music since. The original version of this song is obviously untouchable so I wanted to try something completely different. You can probably hear her influence in my voice and songwriting so it would’ve been impossible to record an entirely new version of it, but we slowed that fucker down!! Was a real honor to sing this song.”
With the reveal of the vulnerable take on the Exile in Guyville classic comes a black-and-white video straight out of Europe’s post-war art house movement, starring Samia alongside actors Fred Hechinger (Eighth Grade) and a Latrell Sprewell jersey–donning Lucas Hedges (pretty much everything else from the past five years) shooting hoops and peeing with the door open in a familiarly tiny New York apartment (you know, two things everyone does in their tiny New York apartments). Edited by Nick D’agostino, the clip is a playful glimpse inside the lives of three friends.
“I was hanging out with my friends Fred and Lucas last month and we were filming ourselves doing ridiculous characters,” she continues. “I played them the ‘Never Said’ cover and this sort of just happened. We sent it over to Nick who sprinkled magic on it and voila!”
“Never Said” is out now via Grand Jury and you can order it here. Catch Samia on tour with Cold War Kids, Active Bird Community, and Remo Drive per the dates below.
09/28 – Brooklyn, NY – Our Wicked Lady @
10/07 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Stache *
10/18 – Pittsburgh, PA – Spirit *
10/09 – Buffalo, NY – The Rec Room *
10/11 – Holyoke, MA – Gateway City Arts *
10/12 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground *
10/13 – Portsmouth, NH – Press Room *
10/15 – Amityville, NY – Amityville Music Hall *
10/16 – Asbury Park, NJ – House of Independents *
10/17 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar *
11/14 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren #
11/15 – San Diego, CA – North Park Theatre #
11/16 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues #
11/17 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Fremont Theater #
11/18 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades #
11/20 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore #
11/22 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst #
@ w/Active Bird Community, Daisy the Great, Nick Cianci, Pearla, Tarune, Blu DeTiger
* w/Remo Drive
# w/Cold War Kids
