Minneapolis-based singer and songwriter Samia will release her breathtaking third album, Bloodless, on Friday. Today she shares one final preview of the record before it’s out in its entirety. Following previous singles “Bovine Excision,” “Lizard,” “Hole in a Frame,” and “Pants,” “Carousel” is out now. What starts as a delicate, acoustic-driven song with twinkling synths, “Carousel” builds into a euphoric wall of sound. Of the track,” Samia says, “‘Carousel’ is a shadow of a long song – it’s about spinning your wheels, and being afraid to make someone’s life less beautiful if you’re in it.” Listen to the song now HERE.
All of the music videos Samia has released for Bloodless, in collaboration with director Sarah Ritter, have one thing in common: the fear of oneself. With Samia at the center as both the protagonist and antagonist, the videos depict common nightmares. For the indoor pool horror “Carousel,” Ritter drew inspiration from both an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? entitled “Dead Man’s Float,” as well as an episode of The Twilight Zone called “Mirror Image.”
Bloodless, out this Friday, April 25th, is Samia’s follow-up to her 2023 breakout and award-winning record Honey. Recorded in North Carolina and her new home of Minneapolis, Bloodless is a richly layered album that was made with longtime collaborators co-producers Caleb Wright and Jake Luppen, as well as frequent songwriting partners Christian Lee Hutson and Raffaella.
Pre-order Bloodless, out April 25th via Grand Jury, now
“It’s easier to be what someone wants you to be if you give as little as possible,” says Samia. With Bloodless, she seeks comfort in absence, and explores the allure of existing as fantasy. Drawing inspiration from unsolved mysteries – inexplicable cattle mutilations, the presence of God, the impossibility of femininity – Samia examines how shadows can loom larger than their source. “I noticed a pattern in my life of wanting to live up to the person I became in someone’s head; you become a lot bigger with distance.” Bloodless, which shifts seamlessly from sparse folk to sweeping indie-pop epics, adorned with haunting harmonies and spectral imagery, seeks a path through that space between void and flesh-and-blood presence. Samia would like to be both, to be whole, to be impossible.
See Samia On Tour – Tickets Here
Tour dates
04-25 – Brighton, UK – Resident SOLD OUT
04-26 – Bristol, UK – Rough Trade SOLD OUT
04-28 – Liverpool, UK – Rough Trade SOLD OUT
04-29 – Leeds, UK – Jumbo SOLD OUT
04-30 – Nottingham, UK – Rough Trade SOLD OUT
05-01 – London, UK – Rough Trade East SOLD OUT
05-01 – London, UK – Rough Trade East [Matinee Show] SOLD OUT
05-20 – Portland, ME – Portland House of Music * SOLD OUT
05-21 – Boston, MA – House of Blues *
05-22 – Northampton, MA – Academy of Music *
05-24 – Toronto, ON – Opera House *
05-25 – Montreal, QC – Le Studio TD *
05-26 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground *
05-28 – Philadelphia, PA – TLA *
05-30 – New York, NY – Brooklyn Steel *+ SOLD OUT
05-31 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club * LOW TIX
06-02 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall * LOW TIX
06-03 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall * SOLD OUT
06-05 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall *
06-06 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue *
06-07 – Kansas City, MO – Truman *
09-08 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West +
09-09 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn +
09-11 – Dallas, TX – The Echo Lounge & Music Hall +
09-12 – Austin, TX – Scoot Inn +
09-13 – Houston, TX – The Heights Theater +
09-16 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom +
09-17 – San Diego, CA – Music Box +
09-19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre + ^
09-20 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore ^
09-22 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom ^
09-23 – Vancouver, BC – Hollywood Theatre ^
09-24 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre ^
09-26 – Salt Lake City, UT – Soundwell ^
09-27 – Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre ^
09-29 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room ^
09-30 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall ^
10-01 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl ^
* w/Raffaella
+ w/ Hank Heaven
^ w/ Renny Conti
Tracklist:
01 Biscuits Intro
04 Lizard
05 Dare
06 Fair Game
07 Spine Oil
08 Craziest Person
09 Sacred
10 Carousel
11 Proof
12 North Poles
13 Pants
More on Samia & Bloodless:
Samia’s 2020 debut album, The Baby, marked a confessional coming-of-age —an intimate love letter to those sentiments that are most difficult to articulate. In her 2023 album Honey, Samia deepens this exploration of young adulthood, offering a more introspective take as she searches for clarity. These releases, including her 2021 EP Scout, alongside her magnetic live performances, have earned her widespread critical acclaim, over 150 million streams, and a devoted fan base who sing along passionately to every word at sold-out shows. She’s also won over new audiences opening for artists like Maggie Rogers, Lucy Dacus, and Courtney Barnett.
For Bloodless, Samia reunited with producers Caleb Wright—of her favorite band, The Happy Children—and Jake Luppen of Hippo Campus, who also happens to be her neighbor in Minneapolis. She recently relocated there after three years in Nashville and spending her teens and early 20s in New York City. Rounding out the team is Samia’s close friend and fellow artist Raffaella, who inspired the song “North Poles.” Together they’ve created a space where Samia can be both vulnerable and challenged.
“I’ve spent the past two decades unintentionally conflating an abstract idea of men with my understanding of God,” Samia explains. “The person I became in order to impress this imagined figure is inseparable from who I am today. A significant part of my personality was built around traits and behaviors I believed—whether through observation or hearsay—men would like. With this album, I’ve tried to confront that head-on.” Bloodless explores her relationship with a fragmented, symbolic version of Men—a patchwork of expectations and imagined standards she tried to meet, which ultimately shaped her sense of self.
Across these thirteen songs, Samia grapples with the hollow, pre-bovine excised form she once embodied—a vessel that gained value through its own absence, until playing dead became its own form of life. With Bloodless, she endeavors to unearth the self buried beneath these carefully constructed personas, ultimately reaching a place of acceptance for her whole, imperfect being.
The complex Bloodless is the remarkable follow-up to Samia’s Libera Award-winning 2023 album Honey, and a welcome return from one of this generation’s most exciting voices.
Leave a Reply