“The Baby” By Samia

By: Madeleine Ware

Samia Finnerty, known as “Samia,” has just released her debut album “The Baby”—an artistic exploration of early 20s growing pains, sexuality, love, and loss. The album opens with “The Pool,” an ethereal track that evokes the sounds of Bon Iver and raw meandering vocals of Mitski. The album quickly takes a turn in “Fit N Full,” where Samia flirts with the idea of stripping in a restaurant—“If you want/I can take it off/and show you what my momma gave me.” The album sounds folksy and intimate in some parts and playful and free in others.  From the grimy guitars of “Stellate” to the soft dance-floor like synth hits of “Winnebago,” Samia provides an album with a diverse sound.

Perhaps the unifying factor that ties “The Baby” together is Samia’s powerful and versatile vocals. An example of Samia’s vocal versatility is the track “Is There Something in the Movies?”—a lament about the heartbreak within the entertainment industry. At one moment, Samia sings softly and confessionally about her childhood and in the next scream-sings, “Everyone dies but they shouldn’t die young/anyway, you’re invited to set,” pointing out the tragic trend of entertainers dying young, preferring fame to love.

The album perfectly captures the limbo of one’s early 20s—not quite an adult, not quite a teenager—a raw combination of lust, emotionality, and poetic angst. Despite Samia being a relatively small name in the indie music scene, she has created a masterful album. Although she may be “The Baby,” Samia has demonstrated her capacity for artistic maturity by exploring complicated and emotional topics.