Sam and the Sea Gives Listeners Two For The Price Of One On New Track ‘Little Lies/Thinking Slow’

 New York's very own Sam and the Sea released a beautifully raw and entrancing double-A sidetrack on June 25.

Typically to Sam and the Sea, these songs instantly resonate with the listener; you are made feel as though you heard them years ago in the faint distance, perhaps looking out at a vista.

These tracks employ one another to maintain this other-wordly, dreamy quality and, as a pair, extend this dream-feeling into a dream sequence.

Both tracks have a beautifully progressive musical structure. In both instances, the track builds really pleasantly to the chorus, starting with just a guitar and ending with layers of sound - each playing an integral role in the hazy atmosphere of the track. Whilst ‘Little Lies’ establishes a funky little loop through these layers, one that is incredibly catchy in its repetition, its sister track, ‘Thinking Slow’, takes a more leisurely and premeditated method of layer building towards its chorus - as its name suggests. The way Sam and the Sea’s voice breaks through the layers of sound is a welcome chime within the soundscape that is created; this is especially prominent during the moments of vocal harmony.

Whilst the meaning behind this double single release leaves a lot to the discretion of the listener, the feeling of a person alone with their thoughts of the past seems to shine from this project. In ‘Little Lies’, Sam and the Sea sings “you don’t cry like you used to/you can read my mind/you don’t care”, whereas in ‘Thinking Slow’ he remembers the “sweet embrace/the look on your face”. Whilst it is uncertain who Sam and the Sea is addressing here, these tracks feel like an ode to the past, which is perhaps why the songs generate this immediate nostalgia for a person or place the listener might not have even met or visited.

Either way, the music Sam and the Sea creates is unique in its transportative abilities; you never know which memory you’ll revisit whilst listening to their tracks.

Maddie Bridger

@madsbridger

Image: Official Single Artwork Painted Halo Records (PRESS)