Like most of Will Samson’s work, ‘Shimmer (Day Two)’ has a warm, hazy quality, unfurling slowly like a long hot summer afternoon. The track, which is the second to be taken from his forthcoming album Welcome Oxygen, is a slow-burn masterpiece, all haunting vocals and simple, raw strings and guitar. Recorded on a simple tape machine in Lisbon, the record documents a stressful two week period Samson spent recovering from a nasty accident, something that explains the honest, direct lyrics.
“Welcome to your home / Where you can’t stop running from yourself” he croons, the melancholy neatly contrasting with the elegance of his music. Confronted with his own mortality, Samson looked inward and went back to basics; what emerged was his most heartfelt, poignant music to date. His Spartan approach gives his compositions space to breathe and frames his words perfectly.
Much like first single ‘Welcome Oxygen’, this is another fitting taster for his new material, and a stunning return it in it’s own right.
Words: Derek Robertson
