Blurry and unsatisfying

Review Score:

C+

May 5 / 2025 –

Samia was the first artist I personally reviewed for Real Goblin. So, forgive me if I’m a little sentimental about the whole thing as I write this. But, in my defense, it’s easy to be sentimental about Samia. Her writing has always had a boom or bust quality to it. Either it strikes you or it doesn’t. It shreds your heart like a broadhead arrow from a compound bow, or you watch it fly harmlessly by and impale a nearby maple tree.

Her debut is, for my money, still her best work. Beyond the songwriting, she has never nailed the crafting of a melody better than on The Baby. On Honey, just one song springs to mind on the regular (that being “Breathing Song”, which sticks with me to this day).

In the case of Bloodless, the songs lean more on the Honey side (for better or worse).

Sometimes, a mysterious, foggy approach to songwriting generates intrigue. Think of Alex G. Many of his songs are vague, but only so vague as to leave you space to fill in the gaps. Samia skirts the edges of that. Sometimes she nails it. Sometimes. On the chorus of “Fair Game”, she sings, “You can go outside on a hot night and clap but you won’t get your blood back”, an allusion to mosquitos. You can kill them, but the damage is done. So is true of revenge, or whatever else you feel like attributing to the metaphor. This is beautifully done.

It’s not always this deftly handled. The song where this scene crafting works the best is “Bovine Excision”, where a line line “Sitting in the bathtub while they’re knocking” feels imaginative. It conjures an image in the listener’s mind. But sometimes (many times) Samia crafts a similarly blurry scene that misses the mark, like on “Sacred”. The repeated refrain, “Oh, you never loved me like you hate me now”, is brilliant. But outside of that, the song is muddy. A Pitchfork review of her previous album called these types of songs “you-had-to-be-there” anecdotes. And I fear that I agree with Pitchfork (perhaps the only time I will every say that). She has not found a way to make this songwriting feel…significant. These vague little anecdotes, they don’t work.

Thankfully, the album finishes strong. “North Poles” is strong, with a melody that actually feels worthy of the final two tracks. Her lyricism still suffers from some of her same issues as the previous tracks, but some moments break through into a territory that feels real and grounded.

Sadly, this album does little for me. I am sorry for that. I believe Samia to be a talented musician and a gifted writer. But her finest hour, this is not.

Review Score:

C+

Gubb wrote this review. You can’t get mad at Gubb.

Bandcamp