Breaking free of constraints – be they financial, geographical, creative, or personal – can be a scary
but ultimately fulfilling choice. A group who knows this all too well are Rebecca and Franklin Mocket aka
Samana. Their new single ’two wrongs’ is not only a superb slice of soaring, majestic folk, but the first
to be released on their imprint – the road records – which began as an “all-diy, creative productionhouse… built by Rebecca and Franklin”.
It’s clear right from the off that ’two wrongs’ embodies and represents the progression Samana’s
members discovered in “the rural depths of west wales”. propulsive drum patterns – all shuffling snares
and syncopated hi-hats – back swelling strings and quicksilver finger-picked guitar. The arrangement
skips and twirls and moves. Indeed, Samana cite the “transient subculture of freight train riders” as an
influence here; Mike Brodie, who documented this tradition, provides the meditative, almost yearning cover shot.
Such is the song’s restive spirit that its original tempo and rhythm are abandoned four minutes in,
allowing it to morph into something even grander, even more sweeping, even more monumental. Imagine Robbie Basho fronting latter-day Bad Seeds and you won’t be too far off the mark. Indeed, the cinematic spirit contained in ’two hands’ means that with every grand, decisive chord change you feel you can almost feel the engine chug beneath you and hear the wind in your ears. From the voyage to wales, to the imprint, to the forging of new modes of creativity (the production house will also extend to film and photography work), it’s clear that ’two hands’ is Samana’s spine-tingling first step into the back of beyond.
Listen to Two Wrongs https://soundcloud.com/samanaroad/two-wrongs/s-6faNDi1jZwh?si=500bd7dc20d64afaa1e8adb65f43742a&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Tour Dates.
Folklore – Brighton 12th October
Slaughtered Lamb – London 15th October
Pie & Vinyl – Portsmouth 18th October
Truck Records – Oxford 26th October
Hermon Arts – Oswestry 27th October
The Druidstone – Pembrokeshire 29th October
Other Voices Festival – Cardigan 4th November
Other Voices Festival – Cardigan 5th November
The Globe – Hay On Wye 19th November
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