As a producer, sound artist and a composer, Dan Samsa has been working towards his latest album project ‘Contours’, to be released on Apollo Records in February of 2022. A single, ‘Ascent’, is released in advance, as a taster of things to come; a stunning eleven track album that shows exactly why Samsa is one of the most exciting talents to emerge from the UK jazz and electronica scene right now. The album teaser features an arresting vocal performance from Zosia Jagodzinska.
Having grown up in the vibrant London borough of Lewisham and immersing himself into the swelling South London underground music scene, Samsa has been regularly performing live and DJing, shaping his sound and collaborating with fellow musicians, vocalists and writers. Influenced by the likes of Kamikaze Space Programme, Dillinja, Lemon D, Photek, Clark, Special Request and The Future Sound of London, there is an obvious IDM element present in his work, reflecting the hard-hitting and uncompromising rhythms of techno and UK jungle. However, it’s his classical training and experience performing with live acts such as Kae Tempest that enabled him with the technical skill to create such immaculate constructions. In the same vein as innovators such as Morton Feldman and John Cage, he is intrigued by music not only as an auditive phenomenon, but also as a spatial and social manifestation; he therefore meticulously curates his recordings to allow for the impact of space, then performing it in a way that envelops the listener and challenges their notions of what sound and music can be. His forthcoming ‘Contours’ album can testify to this; it was recorded with a 360° microphone, while performers were being directed around spaces such as Southwark Cathedral.
