Samana, The Old King’s Arms, Pembroke – April 2024
“It’s like a sound bath” Rona Mac
Samana is a Sanskrit term derived from the root word ‘sam’, meaning “together,” and ‘an’ meaning to “breathe” – an apt name for the band. By the end of Samana’s second set at the Old King’s Arms Hotel in Pembroke we were breathing together, as if boundaries between the band and us, the audience, had been dissolved. Such transcendental moments are fleeting, even in the musical diaspora of delight.
Samana’s show was a cleansing contentment, a cocoon of mystery, a happiness, a questioning. Redressing the balance, undressing the harvest, the elephant in the room, the weaver at the loom.
I’d seen Samana (Rebecca and Frankie from Login) several times, most notably at last year’s Unearthed Festival when their main stage mid-afternoon set was, for me, the best thing I heard all weekend. Though I was fresh from the cake stall on a sugar rush.
On those occasions the duo employed various pedals, loops, whatever to enhance the entrance of the enigmatic, ethereal twin voices and guitar. Last week they eschewed those techno devices to deliver a bare bones acoustic show that had no less power, spirit, or joy, it was just different (though for the first set I could hardly hear them – I’m going deaf and was sat at the back – but they turned up the volume a tad for the second set).
Still, though, the essential elements of a Samana show were all there – a meditative addictive groove, the sound of the lyrics as melodious as the meaning, reflections on nature, death, grieving, spirits, stones, and love. Humour, no hubris. Healing, no heist. Hope, no hallucination.
And to think I thought Mojo Magazine’s 5 –star review of Samana’s last album – “Meditative deep reflections, swooning wanderlust, an anaesthetising reach – think Nico, Jarboe, Mazzy Star. Voted No.1 psychedelic-folk album of 2022” – was pretentious genrefication.
George Parfitt, of Main Street Music, who promotes these monthly shows at the Old King’s Arms Hotel, told me the Samana show was the last one of the season but he will be promoting another show in June, at Pembroke’s Community Centre on The Commons.
The music scene, especially for original music, is vibrant in Pembrokeshire (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise) in all towns (and even a city) – Tenby, Narberth, Fishguard, Haverfordwest, St Davids et al – except Pembroke and Pembroke Dock. Cwtch Coffee in the Dock and George Parfitt in Pembroke are flying the furrow, ploughing the possibilities but couldn’t there be others?
“It is an invitation to regain possession of ourselves and our time, as well as rediscovering harmony with the environment that surrounds us, compelling a desire to overcome our borders and to learn.” Samana.
Samanaroad.com.
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