SAMSON AND DELILAH
are a dynamic 5 piece Australian/British chamber folk group based in Manchester. Led by the songwriting partnership of husband and wife Sam Lench and Anna Zweck, they are gaining a reputation for intimate, vibrant and virtuosic live shows mixing traditional songs with their own variously heartbreaking and vitriolic compositions. Having played as a duo and in several bands within Manchester’s burgeoning new folk scene, Sam and Anna joined forces with likeminded musicians to add Double Bass, Drums, Flute, Piano and Accordion to their second album.
Released in January 2011 on Little Red Rabbit Records, ‘And Straight On Till Morning’ is an innovative record of chamber folk with ‘melodies as sturdy as great hymns’ (The Guardian). Recorded in a Victorian concert hall, the album captures the band’s strength in live performance, totally at ease with each other and their songs. The album was critically acclaimed throughout Europe and songs have been featured on BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music.
Praise for Samson & Delilah:
The Guardian (Robin Denselow): Psych folk lives on. Its a brave fusion
with melodies as sturdy as great hymns and bold production work. This should be a band to watch.
Uncut: A courtly, escapist collection of acoustic chamber folk pieces.
Mike Harding (Radio 2): Uplifting pastoral folk with a twist.
Spiral Earth: Nominated for Best Debut Album Of The Year.
Pitched somewhere near the languid Americana of an unplugged Midlake, ‘And Straight Till Morning’ is enchanting no-holds-barred folkery which could have announced itself a re-release from anytime over the past five decades without the merest flutter from an eyelid.
Manchester Evening News:
A snug, warm blanket of a record, it weaves sumptuous folk arrangements with bucolic country-pop, stretching the nu-folk template in exciting and dynamic ways on a par with contemporaries like Sufjan Stevens & Bon Iver.
God Is In The TV: A band who can thread a range of European roots music together and make it sound unmistakably theirs a wonderfully well-woven record.
City Life: Recalls Arcade Fire after a country-folk makeover.