Sam Himself

Biography

"Transplanted from his native Switzerland to New York City, indie rocker Sam Himself uses a vocal power somewhere between The National’s Matt Berninger and San Fermin’s Allen Tate to sing songs of finding your place."

- Consequence of Sound

After extensive live and radio performances in and around Switzerland in 2019, Sam Himself enters the next decade with a new body of work. “Slow Drugs,” his upcoming EP due out 5/29, represents a stylistic departure from Sam’s earlier, more band-driven recordings. Touring and performing solo have inspired tunes that function equally well with a full band onstage or when Sam’s all by himself.

In the studio, the five-track EP reunited Josh Werner (bass - Iggy Pop; Bill Laswell) and Parker Kindred (drums - Jeff Buckley; Joan As Police Woman) under the direction of mixer and producer Daniel Schlett (DIIV, The War on Drugs), Sam’s longtime creative collaborator, first listener and Second Beatle. The EP’s lead single of the same name, “Slow Drugs,” is scheduled for release on 4/3. The song features harmony vocals by Sam’s frequent live partner Denitia Odigie, a prolific, Brooklyn-based songwriter and vocalist. All songs were mastered by engineering legend Greg Calbi (Bruce Springsteen; David Bowie).

The music video for "Slow Drugs" was shot entirely in Switzerland and, unfortunately for Sam, on roller skates. Several near-death experiences on unsecured mountain passes notwithstanding, the video follows Sam, a prodigal son returned from exile, as he rediscovers the Swiss Alps and tries to make his way across the peaks and cliffs of a region of Switzerland he’s never been to before. The result shows the odyssey of a proverbial stranger in his own land. These visuals capture the tension between the song’s themes of familiarity and alienation, intimacy and loneliness, beauty and destruction - and of course the artist’s majestic grace on skates.

Sam heads back to Europe to tour in support of his upcoming release this spring. He'll be on the road in March and again from mid-April through May, with New York shows in between to celebrate the releases of his single and EP (to be announced shortly).