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Sunday, March 12, 2023

Samuel Nicholson and the raw open wounds of "West Coast Feeling"

 










original photo by suzi corker


I've used the term bloodletting quite often in describing artists who let it all out leaving their heart in pieces on the floor. Maybe the term is beginning to be a bit cliché here but it certainly applies to "West Coast Feeling" by the endearing, emotionally explosive Samuel Nicholson, an autistic indie rock front man, musician, and composer from Edinburgh, Scotland who for a long time has been part of the London indie scene as well touring throughout Europe via his own projects and other artistic outfits (including Jemma Freeman & The Cosmic Something, Frankie Morrow and Jeremy Tuplin).

Samuel in a stripped down performance passionately strumming a booming acoustic guitar with an equally raw booming vocal countenance disarms you. As his voice becomes more raw, bathed in fragility and angst and as a droning sound and sparse piano tones slide in you will be unable to turn away. Eventually those musical nuances fall back and all you can feel, hear is Samuel's vocals as his bloodletting takes center stage. 

Of the song, Samuel shares:

"This is the first single from my new record, 'Birthday Suit'. It was written all at once at 2am out of the blue and after dressing it up in various genres and arrangements, i have realized that it is it's most powerful in it's original form - so i decided to release the version that we recorded in that very place in my room."

In my other life as a band mate and songwriter, it is often the case that the first rendition in a recording session is 'the one' especially if it is fresh, if the performance is laid bare to those who have never heard it before (whether other bandmates, friends, recording engineer) because the tension of playing an artistic creation for the first time makes you draw down deep. Artistic people have an innate desire to please, to leave it all on the floor when it counts.

Press notey stuff reveal:

[The new album, Birthday Suit comes after years of searching and longing. It is a dysfunctional self-portrait and a love letter in equal parts, dancing from electrifying guitar solos to naked vulnerability as it tries to bring the love of his life into the world of someone who has recently been diagnosed with autism.]

 -Robb Donker Curtius








THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 


https://www.facebook.com/samuellikesmusic

https://soundcloud.com/samuel-nicholson-music/09-west-coast-feeling/s-1LS6PpSlmSj

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1ua2oGCxpHailViUgRO6zy

https://www.instagram.com/samuelnicholsonmusic/

https://www.samuelnicholsonmusic.com/


Samuel is an autistic indie rock frontman, musician, and composer from Edinburgh, Scotland. Set alight by Motown records in the car with his mother, corrupted by hard rock records handed down by his father and formed by his own journeys into Jazz, Folk & Experimental Music of decades past, he is a cathartic songwriter, an impassioned singer and a gifted guitarist.

He is a regular on the London music scene and has enjoyed tours around the UK and Europe both under his own projects and others including Jemma Freeman & The Cosmic Something, Frankie Morrow and Jeremy Tuplin. So far, Sam's playing has been heard on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Scotland, Amazing Radio, Radio X, KCRW & BBC 6 Music.


Samuel Nicholson, Edinburgh Scotland, singer songwriter, musician, composer, London indie scene, new album 'Birthday Suit', "West Coast Feeling",

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