Samara Lubelski: Future Slip

Within thirty seconds of opening track ‘Culture King of 66’ you reach a chorus and it feels like you’ve already travelled a long way with the song. Then, before you know it the song is over and it all feels to brief, like the fleeting memory of a dream that encapsulated a lifetime. How queer…

First impressions brought the wonderful Japanese duo Nagisa Ni Te to mind, ahhhh who am I kidding, this is the first time I’ve listened to this record, it’s all first impressions. But I’m having a good time with this Samara Lubelski record, so far... You know when you listen to something new and you get rather excited but you can’t remember for the life of you How that hook went or what part of you got snagged on it then all your thoughts are shattered by a new one, as compelling as the last.

‘The Evolution Flow’ was another two and a half minutes that stretched out beyond its bounds. So far Lubelski’s vocals are double tracked whispers and utterings, on ‘Future Hold’ she practically sighs the words,

“Shooting visions from a distance, molten hand walking by the smiling kind,

Coming back for more and more”

Did she really say that? Her vocals are perfectly in keeping with the instruments which all seem to be happy to hint and make light gestures rather than dominate or impose, the songs are built up of layers of meek and dreamy strangeness. Call it a trip, if you like.

‘Headships Down’ is kind of edgy and fractured, a bass plods, double tracked wah-fuzzed guitar prods at the song, as if it is looking for signs of irritation in an automata. Suddenly reverbed backing vocals try to turn a dismembered meandering into a doo-wop song… Is this all going to turn nasty? I half want it to go back to the dream world, and half want it to get freaky; the first half has certainly made me malleable enough to go somewhere…

On ‘The Trip is Out’ there is some kind of narrative involving a psychic adventurer and a “new dimension”… “did you say you saw it all? Falling out of flight” Fantastic! While she sings about the “good and evil… multiplying in our sight” I read that the next song is called ‘New Age Slip’, now that is a title with prospects. I’m waiting, right, here we go…

Nice shimmering guitar chords, warm and friendly, snappy drumming; this album is totally indebted to Japanese psych-pop, oh and drugs of course, which are also totally indebted to Japanese psych-pop, and err, vice versa. Lyrics about power trips, a groovy solo, a quivering little organ straight out of a pixie cathedral… If you like Honey Owens’ recent guitar work as Valet, you’ll like this.

‘Silver Hair’ is the first one that hasn’t done anything for me, but it’s still got a minute or so… Yeah, that’ll do it, delayed guitar swooping and drooping from the rafters… an ok track. Of course! She plays with that lovely hairball Matt Valentine (who has eaten from my Marmite jar I’ll have you know) and that Erika Elder from MV and EE, makes sense.

‘Walking in the Waves’ was a bit lacklustre, but perhaps I was just distracted. It’s an intriguing record, and it’s coming to a close with the jaunty excellence of ‘Field the Mine’. The flower children who got noise without losing their marbles in the process; giving the psychedelic breakdown the ‘New Age Slip’ perhaps. That was fun, I’m going to do it again soon, though I can imagine that the lines about mystics might get a little boring a little too soon.