The follow up to Samoans’ incendiary debut record Rescue is finally on the horizon. Laika will be released via the band’s own Apres Vous Records on 29th September. Samoans released their debut album Rescue in 2014 to critical acclaim and toured extensively for two years playing with the likes of No Devotion and Kids in Glass Houses and recording a BBC Radio 1 session at Maida Vale. The album was also nominated for the coveted Welsh Music Prize.
The first taster from Laika is now streaming in the form of Patience, a track that embodies the sci-fi theme permeating much of the album. Accompanying the song’s descriptions of machines roaming the streets, the rhythm of the song has a sway to it that was inspired by Jeff Buckley’s playing for sure.
Other influences on the band have come from far and wide in the likes of Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Manic Street Preachers and Mogwai, making the record a beautifully diverse wonder of an album. Also heavily inspired by the work of renowned Sci Fi writer Philip K. Dick, ‘Laika’’s theme developed around the human relationship with space and tales of a dystopian future that reflect who we are and where we’re going as a species.
The album is named after the dog that was launched into space to test its impact on living creatures. Laika was never expected to return to earth, spelling out the sacrifices humans make in the name of progress. Recorded in 12 days at Stompbox Studios in South Wales, ‘Laika’ is Samoans with the shackles off. Whilst songs like ‘Future Ghost’ and ‘Terra’ continue naturally from where ‘Rescue’ left off, the band can also be heard progressing their sound further than ever before by experimenting with more instruments and arrangements.